Interior will deploy 10,000 police to shield the NATO summit

Agents of the Subsoil Unit of the National Police, on February 15, during a performance in Madrid. Alberto Ortega (Europa Press)

Madrid will be an armored city between June 28 and 30.

During those days, the Ministry of the Interior will deploy 6,550 national police officers and 2,400 civil guards in the capital to guarantee, with the collaboration of 1,200 Municipal Police officers, the security of the more than 40 heads of state and government who will attend the summit of NATO at a time of maximum international tension due to the invasion of Ukraine.

They will be joined by the security and escort teams of the delegations, as well as members of the Air Force, who will control the airspace of the capital.

According to police sources, Operation Eirene — named after the Greek goddess of peace — will far exceed the security measures used the previous time Madrid hosted a summit of the Atlantic Alliance, in July 1997. It will also be greater than those deployed at the wedding of the Kings in May 2004, at the proclamation of Felipe VI as King in June 2014;

or the acts for the Spanish presidency of the EU in 2002. This has been influenced by the confluence of a triple threat: jihadist terrorism, violent anti-system groups and the risk of cyber sabotage by Russia.

Interior sources explain that, so far, no signs of "special" concern have been detected in any of these threats.

In fact, the anti-terrorist alert level will remain at 4 (high risk, on a scale of five), in force since June 2015. The Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO, dependent on the Interior) periodically prepares analyzes to detect any changes in these threats.

Operation Eirene began to be designed in October, just a few months after NATO decided to hold the summit in Madrid.

On May 12, the device entered a second phase, called "preventive" and that will last until June 23, Interior sources detail.

In it, work will begin to shield pavilions 12 and 14 of the Madrid Trade Fair Institution (Ifema, the capital's convention center), where the main work meetings and meetings will be held.

On June 24, the alert phase will begin, during which only authorized personnel will be able to access this site.

Finally, on June 27, one day before the formal start of the summit, the "critical phase" will be activated, which will last until all the delegations have left Spain on the 30th.

Multiple acts and venues

The coordination center for the entire security device will also be located at Ifema.

However, it will not be the only point of attention.

The program includes events at the Royal Palace —where the King and Queen will offer an agape to the leaders on the 28th—, the Prado Museum —where a working dinner will be held the following day led by Pedro Sánchez—, the Adolfo Suárez airport and the Torrejón military base, the Moncloa Palace —where the president will have bilateral meetings with some of his counterparts—, the Royal Theater, the Reina Sofía Museum and the Royal Glass Factory of La Granja (Segovia).

These last three places will host different cultural events for the companions of the attending leaders.

To all this, there are also twenty hotels, scattered around the city, in which more than 2 will stay.

The movements of the different delegations are one of the great concerns of those responsible for Operation Eirene.

Interior has prepared 48 security capsules (escorted delegations) in which 270 police officers will participate only to drive the vehicles, according to police documents.

In addition, it is planned to open exclusive lanes on different roads in the capital, including the central Paseo de la Castellana and the M-30 and M-40 motorways, so that they can travel at full speed between the different places and thus minimize the risks .

EN ESPAÑOL

Spain will deploy 10,000 police officers to protect upcoming NATO summit

It has not been ruled out to declare a no-fly zone over a large part of the Community of Madrid and the neighboring provinces at some point during the summit.

The F-18s of the 12th Wing of the Torrejón de Ardoz air base will be in a state of pre-alert during the summit and it is foreseeable that, as in other major NATO events, it will mobilize an Awacs radar plane.

In addition, the National Police will deploy troops specialized in the detection and neutralization of unmanned aerial vehicles, popularly known as drones.

The Cybersecurity Coordination Office, dependent on the Interior, will be responsible for monitoring cyberspace, in collaboration with the National Cryptologic Center (CCN), an organization integrated into the National Intelligence Center (CNI).

Its objective will be to abort both possible cyber sabotage and to detect calls by violent groups that may attract anti-system activists from other countries.

The Government is studying the possibility of reintroducing controls at its land borders, a measure provided for in certain circumstances in the Schengen Agreements, to "detect and prevent the entry into Spain of any person who may be a danger to the summit," sources add. indoor.

The mobility of Madrid, “very altered”

During the days that the NATO summit lasts, mobility in the city of Madrid will be "very altered", according to Interior sources, who advise using public transport on those days.

In addition to the circulation problems that will be caused by the transfer of vehicles from the delegations through different parts of the city and the closure of lanes on some main roads for them to circulate, it is being studied to partially suspend the circulation of line 8 of the Metro, which It leads to the Ifema pavilions that will host the main meetings of leaders and around which “a wide security perimeter” will be deployed, which only authorized persons will be able to access.

Thus,

Interior has proposed to the companies that have their headquarters in the vicinity of the fairgrounds that they implement teleworking so that their employees do not come to the area on those days.

The Government Delegation will also prevent demonstrations from being held in the vicinity, such as those planned to be called by the Police Salary Justice platform (Jusapol, an organization of police and civil guards strongly at odds with the Government) to demand salary improvements.

In addition, the Prado Museum, where a dinner will be held on the 29th, will remain closed that day and the day before to finalize the preparations.

an organization of police and civil guards strongly at odds with the government) to demand better wages.

In addition, the Prado Museum, where a dinner will be held on the 29th, will remain closed that day and the day before to finalize the preparations.

an organization of police and civil guards strongly at odds with the government) to demand better wages.

In addition, the Prado Museum, where a dinner will be held on the 29th, will remain closed that day and the day before to finalize the preparations.

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