President Artamova this morning praised the ‘professionalism and bravery’ of his security detail who apprehended a man that tried to break through the security cordon, designed to protect the president, at an event. The incident occurred yesterday afternoon as Artamova held a press conference in Arvi ahead of the launch of his new economic platform tomorrow.
Members of the specialist U51 division who are assigned to the president intervened as a man, described as of Valle ethnicity and in his late twenties, jumped over the security line and ran towards the president wielding what was thought to be a sword.
Unit Commander Yevginy Lavrov commented that, “Members of the unit stopped a potential attack on the president and Governor Schavelev at an event held early yesterday evening in Arvi. We believe the man is of Valle decent and from Kresnovic and travelled to Arvi with the intent on harming the president during his visit here yesterday. Today we have assured the president that extra security will be put in place for his visit to Bykiven tomorrow and the area will be searched throughly.
“It is impossible to check every member of the crowd at such large events, however we are reviewing the procedures in place to ensure maximum security can be assured of the president.”
The attacker is now being held by Arvi Police and is being questioned as to his motives and background. It is thought to be the first attempted attack towards a senior politician since the attempted assassination of President Lukyanov in 2010 at a memorial event in Siret.
Questions are now being asked of safety and the police’s visibility and practices in Arvi, where this serves as the latest in a long line of public disturbances in the city. President Artamova made a similar visit to the area in 2012, where he unveiled his controversial energy plans. Similar occurrences of violence and protest happened at the time and both the mayor and officials have struggled to deal with the rise in violent and anti-social attacks and particularly those targeted towards minority Noric and Valle citizens. The number of ethnic-related incidents has increased tenfold in the city since 2008 – a major factor thought to be economic stagnation.
It is expected that President Artamova will continue his tour of northern states uninterrupted and is expected to arrive in Bykiven tomorrow lunchtime. His speech, outlining his new economic platform, is highly anticipated and the Union Party is expected to announce a whole raft of new policies designed to support and stabilise the president’s agenda. Marking almost a year since his successful re-election, the president is thought to want to convey a sense of ‘driving ambition’ for Polasciana in a ‘new age of prosperity’. His economic announcements will come as new figures show the economy will record higher levels of growth this year than at any time since the beginning of the 2007 slowdown which impacted the Polascianan economy.
The president is expected to say that, “As Polasciana now emerges from a slow decade of growth, this is the time to announce our ambitions for the future. Polascianans have worked hard, dealt with crises not of your own making and now want to see some reward for the difficult period we have been through together. This economic platform is about one thing – announcing our ambitions for a country that is safer, more prosperous and influential than it ever has been before.”
His speech is expected to calm frustrations within the Union Party over its leadership – with the president announcing a unifying package of reforms that Artamova expects to pass both the Union Party held Upper House, as well as being approved by Prime Minister Fedorov’s Progressive Centrists. Federal Council leader Ivan Tattar will be alongside President Artamova at the announcement tomorrow in another show of strength for the influential Union Party figure who continues to be seen as the favourite to succeed the president in 2019.
The Niveri Palace hopes that the speech will help deflect attention from the scandal surrounding former president Pavel Lukyanov that has dominated headlines in the past week.
