Czech PM Babiš apologizes for picking flowers in national park

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš apologized Sunday for picking flowers in a protected area on Lysá hora, a mountain in eastern Czechia, saying he would pay a fine if necessary. Babiš said in a Facebook video that he plucked the flowers while remembering a late colleague from his ANO movement with whom he had previously climbed the mountain. “Maybe I broke some law, for which I apologize and I will definitely pay a fine if necessary, of course,” he said. Footage from Saturday’s hike posted to Babiš’ Facebook page showed the prime minister climbing with a small bunch of flowers before laying them at a monument on the summit. Babiš was joined by two ministers, ANO politicians and supporters on the 1,324-meter peak, the highest point in the Moravian-Silesian Beskids. An environmental expert working for an organization overseen by the Czech Environment Ministry told Czech local media outlet iDNES that Babiš had picked two thoroughly ordinary species — narrow-leaved willowherb and Fuchs’ ragwort — and was unlikely to face punishment. “They are completely common flowers,” said the expert, whom the outlet did not name. “Absolutely no problem, not even in a national park.”