Czechs to step up security measures in wake of Egypt blasts

Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan announced on Monday that the Czech authorities will step up security in the wake of the blasts in Egypt, which claimed at least 88 lives, including that of a Czech man. The measures will be introduced across the board, from the police to the intelligence services.

Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek (left) and Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan, photo: CTK

Among the measures to be introduced, there will be tighter control over the transport of dangerous materials, explosives and weapons, presumably to make sure they don't fall into the wrong hands. Czech air marshals will be placed on more flights to various destinations around the world. Police will continuously monitor footage from closed-circuit TV cameras, rather than using them retroactively to look for suspects after a crime has been committed. There will be more police dogs trained to sniff out explosives, and police will be able to travel to problem countries to assist in granting visas to people wishing to visit the Czech Republic.

However Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek stressed after Monday's meeting of the Central Crisis Committee that there was no evidence to suggest the Czech Republic was at any greater risk from a terrorist attack, though he said neither could such a risk be eliminated. Certainly the Czech authorities are taking the risk very seriously. In mid-September there will be a simulation of a terrorist attack to test the readiness of the country's emergency services.

There has been some skepticism in the Czech press as to the effectiveness of the measures. Mlada Fronta Dnes said increasing police patrols, training sniffer dogs and monitoring potentially dangerous foreigners was insufficient. However the paper also pointed out it was apparently impossible to do enough to remove the risk. Not even the greatest state of readiness by the British security services was enough to prevent the attacks on London, it wrote, and also mentioned that Egypt has been cracking down hard on Islamic fundamentalists for years, and that wasn't enough to prevent the massacre at Sharm al-Sheikh.