France will seek to keep its state of emergency until a total and global war against so-called Islamic State (IS) is over, Prime Minister Manuel Valls has told the BBC. The measures were introduced after the IS-led Paris attacks on 13 November and then extended for three months..
Such a move gives police more power to conduct raids and impose house arrests. Mr Valls said France was at war, which meant using all means in our democracy under the rule of law to protect French people.
When asked how long he envisaged the state of emergency remaining, Mr Valls said The time necessary. We cannot always live all the time in a state of emergency.
Mr Valls also warned that Europe’s migration crisis was now putting the European Union itself at grave risk. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to hold talks with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Berlin .