There is a lot of activity on the Promenadeplatz on Friday morning, heavy black limousines or minibuses pull up at short intervals in front of the Hotel Bayerischer Hof, all with darkened windows, some accompanied by police cars with flashing lights. Pedestrians approach, some with briefcases, some in uniform, all with a plastic card around their neck that certifies their access to the hotel. Participants and guests of the 60th Munich Security Conference, the Siko, arrive.
Like every year on a weekend in mid-February, politicians and military experts from all over the world meet in downtown Munich. The citizens have long been used to the state of emergency, but this year everything is even bigger and stricter. “Due to the large number of high-profile participants, the operation is very demanding,” says Andreas Franken, spokesman for the Munich police. The number of security forces is correspondingly large: more than 5,000 officers are on duty, more than ever before; The people of Munich are receiving reinforcements from eleven federal states. Among other things, 30 police dogs from all over Bavaria trained to search for explosives were brought together.
The fact that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected on Saturday, for example, requires special security precautions. “We know the processes involved,” says Franken, “the challenge this year is that we have to protect several such prominent people.” US Vice President Kamala Harris and UN Secretary General António Guterres, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog and the top of the federal government around Chancellor Olaf Scholz, around 50 heads of state and government alone. “95 people who are classified for protective measures,” says Franken. Everyone brings an entourage with them, including ministers, government officials, military officials, representatives of international organizations – there are “more guests than ever before,” says Franken. The increasing number of wars and crises creates a need for discussion.
Even people with authorized access must be checked at barriers.
(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)
Officers also secure the entire conference area on the roofs.
(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)
Heavy black limousines constantly pull up in front of the Bayerischer Hof conference hotel.
(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)
So the area around the central conference venues Bayerischer Hof and Rosewood Hotel is cordoned off, access to nearby shops, offices and apartments is restricted, and only marked vehicles are allowed there until Sunday afternoon. Even those accredited for the event who walk to the hotel have to have their bags checked at checkpoints and scanned with a metal detector. Officers watch what is happening on the street from the roof of the hotel.
By Friday morning, the Munich police had already had around 50 vehicles towed away that were parked in specially designated no-parking zones. There was even one right on Promenadeplatz, although preparations for the Siko had been made there for days, barriers had been set up and information signs had been put up, says police spokesman Franken with a shake of his head: “Anyone who doesn’t notice that they’re parking incorrectly here hasn’t noticed anything. ” In addition to a ban on parking in the city center, there is also a ban on flying over large areas, explicitly including drones.
In addition to the Siko guests, the security forces also take care of demonstrations
In addition to state guests, the Munich police are also overseeing more than a dozen demonstrations. The largest registered meeting, with 3,000 expected participants, will take place on Saturday from 2 p.m. on Odeonsplatz and is directed against the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Traffic disruptions are also to be expected due to two rallies, which are moving through and around the pedestrian zone on the one hand, and through Maxvorstadt and the Bahnhofsviertel on the other.
Police spokesman Franken warns that restrictions are still to be expected on Sunday: Then the Siko guests will gradually be chauffeured back to the airport. For security reasons, said Franken, the police “unfortunately cannot say in advance which routes will be affected by the departure.”