French president Francois Hollande has acknowledged that a threat of terrorism exists for Euro 2016, but is confident that this month's tournament will be a success.
Last November Paris was rocked by a series of coordinated terror attacks -- including one at the Stade de France -- that killed 130 people in total.
As a result, France is still in a state of emergency ahead of the European Championship, and further blasts across the border in Brussels in March served as another warning ahead of the competition.
France and UEFA vowed to go ahead with Euro 2016 and are creating several fan zones throughout the country, which are due to welcome up to eight million people who will watch matches on giant screens.
And on Sunday, Hollande admitted that there is a risk that terrorists will still target the tournament in spite of a massive security presence.
"I decided not only to maintain the competition but to keep the fan zones and ensure that it might be a European festival, a popular festival, a sporting festival," Hollande told France Info. "We should never be intimidated by the threat, even if it exists.
"It will unfortunately be there for a long time.
"Therefore we have to give all the guarantees so that Euro 2016 might be successful. It will be."
Widespread strikes over labour law reforms have caused disruption in recent weeks and more are planned during Euro 2016.
With over one million foreign fans expected to visit France during the competition, Hollande called for disgruntled rail and airline industry staff to put an end to their protests.
"Nobody would understand that trains and planes might be able to prevent the smooth running (of Euro 2016) for fans," he said.