Germans want ideas on security
The government will be looking to earn back part of the 1 billion euros it spent on security during the Olympic Games last year during a meeting today with senior state officials from Germany, the country that will host the 2006 World Cup. Public Order Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis is scheduled to meet Interior Minister for Bavaria Gunther Beckstein today to discuss protecting large-scale international sporting events, sources said. Beckstein and other German officials are expected to visit the operational units used during the Olympics. Greece forked out a huge sum on security for the world’s largest sporting event last year and silenced critics who voiced doubts the country could produce safe, efficient Summer Games, the first since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. The Public Order Ministry is also expected to sign an agreement with the Organizing Committee of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games next month on exchanging security information. Sources say the government is also in contact with organizers of the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics.
