Leak of Smiltene council head's Ukraine visit programme prompts internal inquiry
The programme of a visit to Ukraine by Ervins Labanovskis, chairman of the Smiltene municipality council in Latvia, appeared on social media although it was meant to stay unpublished. The municipality has opened an internal service inquiry.
The Smiltene municipality in Latvia has launched an internal service inquiry after the programme of a visit to Ukraine by council chairman Ervins Labanovskis surfaced on social media. He announced the inquiry at the council meeting on Thursday. The trip took place in October, and its initial plans were changed for security reasons.
The trip to Ukraine
From 15 to 18 October, the 24th car convoy organised by the foundation "Alūksnes un Apes novada fonds" set out from Alūksne for Ukraine. Labanovskis took part in it. He delivered to Ukraine a car donated by the Smiltene municipality.
The programme and how it became public
The municipal council decided on the visit programme on 13 October at a closed extraordinary meeting. The visit was to include Pustomyty, a sister city of the Smiltene municipality in Ukraine. According to Labanovskis, the programme was not published before the trip because of the ongoing hostilities. It nevertheless ended up on social media, so the visit programme had to be changed quickly for security reasons.
The source does not say how the programme reached social media or who may be responsible for the leak. That is to be established in the service inquiry that has been opened.
