Retired general Petr Pavel wins election as president of the Czech Republic

Retired general Petr Pavel defeated populist billionaire Andrej Babis in a runoff election to become the new president of the Czech Republic.

Pavel will succeed controversially courted Milos Zeman in the largely ceremonial but prestigious position.

“My presidency will only succeed if we all succeed together,” Pavel told a cheering crowd of his supporters.

With 97% ballots from nearly 15,000 polling stations counted by the Czech Statistical Office, Pavel had 57.8% of the vote, compared to 42.2% for Babis.

Pavel is a former chairman of the NATO Military Committee, the highest military body of the alliance.

He fully supports the country’s military and humanitarian support to Ukraine in its fight against Russia and sees the future of the Czech Republic linked to membership in the European Union and NATO.

It is the second major defeat for Babis, former prime minister. His centrist ANO (YES) movement moved into opposition after losing the 2021 general election.

Babis was supported by Zeman, with whom he shares Eurosceptic views and has a habit of using anti-migrant rhetoric. Pavel and Babis took part in the second round of voting because none of the eight starting candidates obtained an absolute majority in the first round two weeks ago.

Zeman was the first president elected by popular vote. His second and final five-year term expires in March. Lawmakers elected the previous two presidents, Vaclav Havel and Vaclav Klaus.