Finance Minister and ANO party leader Andrej Babiš on Thursday apologized
for his attack on the news website echo24.cz. Earlier this week, Mr Babiš
said the website’s investor was a front, and indirectly threatened to
audit his tax returns. His comments came after ANO’s Justice Minister
Helená Válková suggested in an interview for the website that conditions
in Bohemia and Moravia under Nazi rule were not that harsh. Mr Babiš said
the interview was not fair. The outlet, which has also expressed critical
views of the finance minister and his party, was founded by journalists who
left the daily Lidové noviny after it was acquired by Mr Babiš last year.
In a statement for another of his papers, Mladá fronta Dnes, Andrej Babiš
apologized for his remarks and said it was not his intention to check the
media outlet’s finances or to silence anyone.