Prague (AP) Retired NATO General Petr Pavel defeated billionaire former prime minister in Saturday’s run-off vote to become Czech Republic’s fourth president, final results show.
According to the Czech Statistical Office, former paratrooper Pavel received 58.3% of the votes, while Andrei Babis received 41.7%.
After the results showed him winning, Pavel said, “I want to thank those who voted for me and those who didn’t vote but did.”
“I think values such as truth, dignity, respect and humility prevailed in this election,” he added.
The 61-year-old Pavel said he will replace President Zeman in March as Milos. President Milos Zeman is an outspoken and divisive politician who maintained close ties with Moscow until his reversal last year when Russia invaded Ukraine.
Voter turnout in the EU and his NATO member states is unusually high at 10.5 million, putting him above 70% after a bitter and controversial campaign. Babis and his family have been targeted with death threats, and Pavel has fallen prey to a hoax claiming he is dead due to widespread disinformation in the latest campaign.
“Our community has been hurt somewhat by the presidential campaign, by the many crises we have faced and are facing, and by the political style that is prevalent here these days.
“It has to change, and you helped me take the first step toward that change.”
Babis, who served as prime minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021, congratulated Pavel after the vote and conceded his defeat.
“I want him to become president of all citizens of the Czech Republic, sensitive to their problems and to fight for the interests of the Czech Republic,” he added.
Although its role is largely ceremonial, the Czech president appoints the government, elects the central bank governor and constitutional judges, and serves as commander of the armed forces. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he was looking forward to “deepening close cooperation” between the two countries.
“I can’t wait to meet you in person and wish you strength and success,” he added.
Pavel will be his fourth Czech president since the Czech Republic gained independence after being peacefully partitioned from Slovakia in 1993.
His predecessors were anti-communist Vaclav Havel, economist Vaclav Klaus (2003-2013), Zeman, who led the country from 1993 until 2003.
A military college graduate, Pavel was recognized as a hero in the Serbo-Croatian War when he helped liberate the French army from the war zone. He rose to become Chief of the Czech General Staff and Chairman of the NATO Military Commission.
Like Babis, Pavel was a Communist Party member in the 1980s.
But the carefully trimmed beard and grey-haired man has a passion for high-performance motorcycles and is now an avid supporter of EU and NATO membership.
Pavel, an independent president unaffected by party politics, has vowed to continue to support aid to war-torn Ukraine and its bid for EU membership.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a tweet that she welcomed Pavel’s “strong commitment to European values”.
