Friday, April 03, 2009

Obama Speaks in Prague April 5

UPDATE 4-5: WATCH THE SPEECH HERE
UPDATE 4-4: See the Obamas arrival video here
Prague Castle
The Obamas will arrive at Prague Castle and Obama will meet with President Václav Klaus and Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek.
The Prague Post: U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to arrive in Prague around 5 p.m. Saturday, April 4. His public speech is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Sunday, April 5 at Hradčanske náměstí. Gates to the event open at 7 a.m. and the U.S. Embassy is urging early arrival.
Later in the day, Obama will attend an informal meeting with leaders from the European Union's 27 member states departing from Prague about 24 hours after arriving at 5 p.m. Sunday. Prague City Hall has a toll-free information line detailing public transport changes during the Obama visit.
From the Prague Monitor:
The Non-violence movement and the League of Mayors against the Radar told CTK Thursday they have initiated a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, asking him to take Czechs' opinions into consideration when deciding about plans to extend the U.S. anti-missile shield to Central Europe.

The two groupings' representatives said the letter has been signed by 130 Czech and European personalities, politicians and organisations.

Representatives of the World without Wars have handed it to 20 U.S. embassies.

The letter says some 70 percent of Czech citizens have for a long time disagreed with building the radar base on Czech soil.

It also draws attention to the consequences the implementation of the project, which also includes a base with ten interceptor missiles in Poland, would have for the security of Europe and the whole world.

The radar base is to be built some 90km southwest of Prague. The Czech Republic has signed two treaties on the project with the former president George Bush's administration last year.

Jan Tamas, spokesman for Non-violence, said he welcomes and supports the new direction that the administration of Barack Obama has started to follow.

"If the prevention of nuclear weapons proliferation were one of Obama's priorities, the implementation of this project would be counter-productive," Tamas said.
Preparations: