PM Babiš regrets sending article to Lidové noviny

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has said he regrets the fact that his assistant sent the daily Lidové noviny an article which backs his views regarding the alleged unsuitability of taking in child migrants from Syria.

The article was published and several editors are now leaving the daily in protest.

In an interview for Frekvence 1 radio Babiš said sending the article had been a mistake in view of the fact that Lidové noviny as well as the Mladá fronta Dnes daily are published by Mafra belonging to his business empire Agrofert.

In 2017 the prime minister was forced to put 90 percent of his assets into a trust fund in order to comply with a strict new conflict of interest law, but suspicions that he is still controlling the empire and the respective media outlets remain.