Timely speech

Mark Mardell|08:44 UK time, Sunday, 5 April 2009

Prague 0720

Penned in nice and early in the lovely square outside Prague Castle, its gates topped by figures from Greek myth, stabbing and clubbing. The castle has seen its fair share of violence too, the scene of Hitler's triumphant entry into Czechoslovakia, agression that met with European weakness.

A rather different scene today with a flower-covered podium set up for President Obama to speak to the crowd, already large three hours before the main event. It will be our first chance to hear what the president says when the hand of freindship is slapped away, his reaction to what many observers will see as aggression or at least defiance by North Korea. It is a stately setting. The press pen is in front of the cream majesty of the Sternberg Palace and this will be an important speech. It was always intended to be about the spread of nuclear weapons but it is that much more timely today.