French PM pledges to pay for own children's flights to prove a point

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Thursday he would pay for his two children's flights to a football match in Berlin to stop growing criticism over the government's abuse of taxpayers' money for private reasons.

During a visit to the French overseas territory of La Reunion, Valls said he regretted that he and his children had flown in a government jet to watch the Champions League final in the German capital.

"If it was to come up again, I would not do it, and to remove any ambiguity, any doubt, I will take on the cost of the trip for my two children of 2,500 euros (2,815 U.S. dollars)," Valls said in remarks published on the BFMTV news channel's website.

French people understand that a prime minister who moves around with a large group of security people has to use a government plane, Valls said, noting however that his children's flights on a government plane "did not cost taxpayers an additional euro."

According to an Elabe institute survey, 77 percent of French people said they were shocked by Valls' political gaffe as he had always taken a tough stance against abuse of power by French political figures.

Reiterating that the flight to Berlin was an official business trip to prepare for the European soccer tournament scheduled in France in 2016, Valls urged to discard the "unnecessary controversy" and focus on the country's "great challenges" instead. Endi