Croatia prepares for pope’s visit

Croatia is implementing extensive security measures ahead of Pope Benedict XVI visit next weekend. The citizens have been instructed to close windows and not stand on their balconies while the pope is passing by. Croatia prepares for pope’s visit People who decide to come to Ban Jelacic Square and Zagreb Racetrack will be searched. The pope’s visit has sparked negative reactions from a part of the public due to costs which are estimated between EUR 12mn and 14mn. Some NGOs have therefore announced protests. Work is underway at the racetrack and everything will have to be ready in three days. Mobile bathrooms have already been set up. It is expected that about 500 people will work at field hospitals which will be set up soon. “Those are mostly volunteers, Red Cross members but also doctors, nurses and technicians who will provide protection at any moment,” says Croatian Health Ministry Crisis Staff’s Ante Zvonimir Golem. Ambulance teams will be standing by, hospitals have introduced double shifts and sanitation workers and epidemiologists will be at the scene. Police and a road maintenance company have been closing manholes and traffic light boxes along the route that the pope will take in order to prevent sabotage. Police have announced that parking will be banned in downtown Zagreb on Saturday afternoon due to a service that the pope will hold at Ban Jelacic Square before about 50,000 people. They will only be able to enter the fenced area with tickets and will not be able to bring in alcohol, flags or umbrellas. All shops near the square will be closed on Saturday, including Dolac market, and changes will also be made in the routes of public transportation. Streets around the racetrack will be closed for traffic on Sunday, when about 400,000 believers are expected to attend a mass that the pope will hold. The program will begin at 03:00 CET and will last until early afternoon. According to Zagreb Police Administration Deputy Chief Mihael Varga, police performed security checks of about 10,000 citizens, seized about 1,000 pieces of weapon and welded about 1,000 manholes. Police also asked the citizens to report any suspicious persons hanging around buildings on the route that the pope will take and called on them not to throw flowers on the streets. Pope Benedict XVI (Beta, file) “Pope unlikely to visit Serbia in 2013” Journalist Mirko Djordjevic has assessed that the pope’s fourth visit to Croatia in last 17 years is a result of Vatican’s increased interest in the countries with predominantly Catholic population in East Europe and the Balkans. Djordjevic is convinced that the pope will not visit Serbia in the near future and certainly not before the marking of the 1700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan in the southern Serbian town of Nis. He told B92 that Vatican had stated that conditions for the pope’s visit had not been met and that the pope did not want to come due to unstable situation in the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), but that he did not rule out such a possibility in foreseeable future.

Croatia prepares for pope’s visit

People who decide to come to Ban Jelačić Square and Zagreb Racetrack will be searched. The pope’s visit has sparked negative reactions from a part of the public due to costs which are estimated between EUR 12mn and 14mn. Some NGOs have therefore announced protests.

Work is underway at the racetrack and everything will have to be ready in three days.

Mobile bathrooms have already been set up. It is expected that about 500 people will work at field hospitals which will be set up soon.

“Those are mostly volunteers, Red Cross members but also doctors, nurses and technicians who will provide protection at any moment,” says Croatian Health Ministry Crisis Staff’s Ante Zvonimir Golem.

Ambulance teams will be standing by, hospitals have introduced double shifts and sanitation workers and epidemiologists will be at the scene.

Police and a road maintenance company have been closing manholes and traffic light boxes along the route that the pope will take in order to prevent sabotage.

Police have announced that parking will be banned in downtown Zagreb on Saturday afternoon due to a service that the pope will hold at Ban Jelačić Square before about 50,000 people.

They will only be able to enter the fenced area with tickets and will not be able to bring in alcohol, flags or umbrellas.

All shops near the square will be closed on Saturday, including Dolac market, and changes will also be made in the routes of public transportation.

Streets around the racetrack will be closed for traffic on Sunday, when about 400,000 believers are expected to attend a mass that the pope will hold. The program will begin at 03:00 CET and will last until early afternoon.

According to Zagreb Police Administration Deputy Chief Mihael Varga, police performed security checks of about 10,000 citizens, seized about 1,000 pieces of weapon and welded about 1,000 manholes.

Police also asked the citizens to report any suspicious persons hanging around buildings on the route that the pope will take and called on them not to throw flowers on the streets.

“Pope unlikely to visit Serbia in 2013”

Journalist Mirko Đorđević has assessed that the pope’s fourth visit to Croatia in last 17 years is a result of Vatican’s increased interest in the countries with predominantly Catholic population in East Europe and the Balkans.

Đorđević is convinced that the pope will not visit Serbia in the near future and certainly not before the marking of the 1700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan in the southern Serbian town of Niš.

He told B92 that Vatican had stated that conditions for the pope’s visit had not been met and that the pope did not want to come due to unstable situation in the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), but that he did not rule out such a possibility in foreseeable future.