Emmanuel Thomas, with DPA reports I Friday, May 5, 2023
BERLIN – Berlin police have launched an investigation into how details about a potential mid-May visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the German capital wound up in the press.
“In the morning an article appeared in a Berlin daily newspaper in which a member of the Berlin police was allegedly quoted. The press report contains confidential details of a planned operation,” police said in a statement on Thursday, referring to a report published on Wednesday.
Zelensky’s trips abroad are usually kept secret until the last minute for security reasons. Neither the German government nor the Ukrainian embassy would comment on reports of Zelensky’s planned visit to Berlin.
Local Berlin newspaper BZ first reported Wednesday that Berlin police were making preparations for a potential visit by Zelensky on May 13 and 14, citing unnamed sources.
In an unusual move, Berlin police then confirmed the report when asked about it by other news agencies, including dpa. Police on Thursday defended that decision, saying that an unauthorized leak had already revealed details of the visit.
The police “never gave any information that would have endangered the state visit,” the statement said. “Only in response to inquiries based on previous media reports, the press office of the Berlin police confirmed the forthcoming operation.”
Police chief Barbara Slowik said it was “unbearable that a single police employee – at least according to the newspaper report – has damaged the reputation of the Berlin police nationally and internationally in such a shameful way.”
Zelensky is currently in the Netherlands and earlier this week met with Nordic leaders in Helsinki. Neither of those trips were publicly announced prior to the Ukrainian leader’s arrival.
The western German city of Aachen plans to award Zelensky with the prestigious Charlemagne Prize on May 14. Organizers of the event have said that they are making preparations for Zelensky to potentially attend the ceremony in person, although there has been no official confirmation of such plans.
Other prominent dignitaries, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, are expected to make the trip to Aachen for the event. The apparent leak from Berlin police caused anger and frustration in Kiev, according to German media outlet t-online. The outlets quoted unnamed sources close to the Ukrainian government calling the disclosure “irresponsible” and saying that the leak “calls into question a possible visit by the Ukrainian president.”
