President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca could not cut short her visit to Ukraine despite Daphne Caruana Galizia’s car bomb murder, her office said yesterday.

When asked whether the President considered returning to Malta on Monday when the deadly explosion occurred, a spokesman for the President said that “a state visit is planned and organised months ahead”.

Readers posted comments on the social media comments arguing that the President should have cut short her visit and return home as the country experienced such a dark hour.

The spokesman pointed out that although Ms Coleiro Preca remained in Kiev she “issued a statement and also made her appeal to the entire nation live on a number of television stations”.

The President left early on Monday morning and returned late on Wednesday evening. Ms Caruana Galizia was murdered at about 3pm.

Trip started on a bad note as plane had to leave 45 minutes late due to industrial action

Sources close to the Foreign Ministry, which, together with the Office of the President, is responsible for the logistics related to visits abroad by the head of state, noted that it was not unprecedented for such trips abroad to end abruptly due to a delicate developing unplanned situation at home.

The final decision, the sources added, would rest with the President.

Ms Coleiro Preca’s trip started on a bad note as her plane had to leave 45 minutes late due to industrial action by members of the Union of Cabin Crew.

The Office of the President would not say how much it cost to lease an Air Malta aircraft.

“The chartered aircraft for this trip was more viable economically and logistically”, the spokes-man said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat left the country to participate in an EU summit in Brussels.

Opposition leader Adrian Delia decided to cancel a planned trip to the Belgian capital citing the prevailing political situation as the reason.

He was meant to attend a pre-summit meeting for EPP leaders.

ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com