Retired Czech army general Pavel wins presidential election

Petr Pavel, a retired army general, decisively defeated populist billionaire Andrej Babis in a second round on Saturday to become the new president of the Czech Republic.

Pavel, 61, follows up on controversy courting Milos Zeman in the largely ceremonial but prestigious position. His election is expected to strengthen the country’s Western orientation after Zeman’s ten years in office.

With all votes counted by the Czech statistics office, Pavel had 58.3 percent of the vote, compared to 42.7 percent for Babis. Turnout was just over 70 percent, a record high for a presidential vote.

Babis admitted defeat and congratulated Pavel on his victory. He called on his supporters to “accept that I lost and accept that we have a new president”.

Pavel, who was an independent, is a former chairman of NATO’s military committee, the alliance’s highest military body. It fully endorses the Czech Republic’s military and humanitarian support to Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion and stresses the importance of the country’s membership in the European Union and NATO.

The president elects the prime minister after a general election, one of the agency’s main responsibilities, and appoints members of the central bank. The office-holder also selects Constitutional Court judges with the approval of the House of Lords of Parliament.

For more information, watch Euronews’ report in the video above.