More security - and more crowds
expected for Benedict XVI
than Czechs had for Obama
PRAGUE, July 26 (CTK) - Security measures during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the Czech Republic in September will be even stricter than during U.S. President Barack Obama's visit in the spring, today's issue of the daily newspaper
Pravo quotes police protection service head Lubomir Kvicala as saying.
"We expect many more people to come to public spaces, therefore the measures will be greater than during President Obama's visit," Kvicala said.
Obama attended an informal EU-United States summit in Prague last April.
The Pope will be in the Czech Republic on September 26-28.
Pravo writes that it will principally be the Mass that Benedict XVI will celebrate at the Brno-Turany airport on Sunday, September 27, that will place big demands on protection.
Brno Bishop Vojtech Cikrle estimates that some 120,000 people will attend it.
Obama's speech outside Prague Castle was attended by some 15,000 people.