“We have to consider that tomorrow will be the biggest ever security operation. I dare say that tomorrow will be the calling card of the Estonian state, since the whole world, at a time when times are anxious, is looking at Estonia,” said Vaher Tuesday evening on news programme of the public television ETV, ahead of the arrival of Obama.
“Preparations have been intense, there have been many meetings and activities, but we are ready for it,” he added. “It cannot be denied that the American president is the most threatened person in the world,” he said.
Vaher said that the operation is carried out in cooperation with the American and Estonian police. He explained that all procedures followed Estonian laws and the operation was managed by the Estonian state and the Estonian police.
Vaher said that the police recommended people to carry on with their lives on Wednesday as they would normally do and refrain from acting foolishly.
1,500 staff members of the Police and Border Guard Board are directly involved in organising the visit as well as around 400-500 people from the Defence League and the Defence Forces.
Residents of Tallinn were warned that there would be street closures and other traffic restrictions in the centre of the city on Wednesday and some schools gave kids a day off since getting to school would have been problematic as much of central Tallinn is also undergoing street reconstruction work. People who need to get to a plane or a ship were also warned to be at the airport or port earlier than usual because of the temporary border control that is in force because of Obama’s visit.
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