Riot barriers set up as Lahti prepares to receive high-profile visitors

Windows and balcony doors should remain closed in nearby buildings on Friday

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It is Wednesday afternoon and police officers begin to set up riot barriers behind Lahti's Sibelius Hall around the area reserved for demonstrators. Simultaneously inside the building feverish last-minute preparations are taking place in anticipation of the informal summit meeting of EU heads of state and government. There are new tables piled up in the lobby waiting to be taken to their final locations, construction crews are working, a few journalists are hanging around, and heaps of broadcasting technology are on display.
      Resurfacing work on some of the nearby streets is also in progress and is expected to continue on Thursday.
     
"Well, they should have enough police officers", estimates a passer-by on her Nordic-walking round while viewing the density of police vehicles surrounding the Sibelius Hall.
      Ships in the city's inland waterway harbour have been moved to new locations, and some of them have been sealed off for the duration of the informal EU summit . Some city dwellers know that divers have also been used to inspect the nearby waterways.
      A helicopter arriving from the direction of the city and flying low over the Sibelius Hall adds to the atmosphere of the important event.
     
When the helicopter advances behind the building towards the door through which the summit guests will arrive, Mikko Rämö, a resident in a nearby apartment building, moves to his balcony and directs his camera's telephoto lens towards it.
      "The last time I saw anything interesting here was when there was a wine festival at the waterfront", Rämö ponders.
      "I borrowed the camera from my son specifically for this meeting."
      Whether he will get much chance to take pictures in the coming days is another matter. A police leaflet dropped into all the apartments in the building encourages people to keep their distance from the influential guests. All the windows and balcony doors should remain closed from 8 a.m. on Friday morning until midnight.
      More police officers in their blue uniforms appear outside Rämö's home building. They begin to set up a riot barrier. Rämö's camera keeps snapping.
     
The nearby Pro Puu (Pro Wood) Gallery has a little going-on of its own. The Pro Puu Association, which promotes the collaboration of wood professionals such as cabinetmakers, designers, and architects, will hold its own summit meeting while the European leaders get together next door.
      The Association's chairman Markku Tonttila had already hoped for some wealthy clients from the Sibelius Hall to stop by, but the Gallery's doors will remain closed on Friday.
      The wood professionals will have to sneak in to their meeting through the workshop door.
     
Apart from a couple of cars with Russian diplomatic plates outside the Hotel Seurahuone, there is little in downtown Lahti to indicate that something big is about to happen.
      Travel industry student Tuuli Muukkonen is sipping her latte in a nearby café. "Afterwards it'll be interesting to hear if they managed to accomplish anything", she shrugs.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Lahti EU summit will affect traffic even in the Helsinki area (18.10.2006)
  PM Vanhanen not worried about Putin´s participation in EU summit (17.10.2006)

Links:
  EU Presidency Website

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