Security services ponder five-day break for Bush's visit

  • 2005-04-06
  • By Aaron Eglitis
RIGA - Security officials are up in arms over the approaching visit of U.S. President George W. Bush, with some going so far as to recommend that Latvians take off work May 5 's 6 while the distinguished guest is in town, which would make a five-day weekend.

A special working group has already convened to plan the full gamut of security measures for the visit, while some Riga hotels have reportedly begun canceling reservations to make room for the 700-man entourage that will accompany Bush.

Officials have already promised that security this time around would be far more vigilant than when former U.S. President Bill Clinton or the pope visited the country.

Juris Reksna, state secretary for the Interior Ministry, proposed that Latvians be given the two days off, which, juxtaposed with the May 4 holiday (anniversary of re-independence) and the weekend, would give Latvians a five-day respite. The extended holiday, Reksna said, would help alleviate Riga traffic jams, which are supposedly the worst in the Baltics. What's more, many roads are likely to be blocked.

Reksna insisted that the holidays take affect across the entire country. "What makes people in the small village of Vilani worse than people living in Riga, and why should they be working on the days when people in the capital are resting?" he asked rhetorically.

Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis, however, ended speculation on a five-day breather. "At that time of the year, people are rather occupied with works to be done in the countryside; therefore, I think there will be no excessive traffic jams during the U.S. president's visit," he said. He added, however, that perhaps May 6 could be a shortened workday.

The government's special preparation group will be divided into two groups. The first will be controlled by the Foreign Ministry and will be responsible for image control, while the second, run by the Interior and Defense Ministries, will cover security.

Dainis Mikelsons, press secretary for the Constitutional Protection Bureau, the state's secret service, said that the bureau has already contacted NATO allies and other intelligence agencies over the possibility of security threats. Mikelsons also said that his organization has been charged with vetting all those participating in the events and providing security clearance.

In the meantime, tourists visiting the Latvian capital may be in for a surprise. As reported in Biznes & Baltija, a Russian-language business daily, Latvian tourism agencies already received letters from the hotels Reval Latvija and Riga explaining that some of their reservations would be cancelled to accommodate the presidential entourage. One group of 38 Finnish tourists will have to look elsewhere if they intend to stick to their travel plans, according to Baltic Travel Group, a tourist agency.

Furthermore, protests are being planned by the Latvian Environmental Protection Club, who are unhappy with U.S. opposition to the Kyoto Protocol, and the youth branch of the Latvian Social Democrats, who want to demonstrate their indignation over the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the ongoing human rights abuses, a spokesperson said.

The combined protest could bring out as many as 300 people, although a time and place have yet to be chosen since Bush's itinerary is still unknown. The Social Democrats' youth wing said they would invite their Baltic counterparts to also participate in the protest, as well as hold talks with the youth parties of For Human Rights in a United Latvia and the Socialist Party.

Perhaps in response to the interpretation that Bush's visit represents his support for Latvia's position with Russia, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick, who was in the Baltics this week, said that Bush's visit to Latvia and Georgia would not be "a signal to Russia." Bush is stopping by to pay tribute to the high level of development the countries have achieved, media reports said.

Zoellick added that the United States had a high opinion of President Vaira Vike-Freiberga's decision to attend the May 9 festivities in Moscow, where the 60th anniversary of the defeat of Nazism is set to take place.

Vike-Freiberga made her decision to attend the controversial celebration in January, while last month Estonia and Lithuania's presidents decided they would stay home.