Retired Gen. Pavel wins election to become Czech president
The Hindu
With the ballots from 97% of almost 15,000 polling stations counted by the Czech Statistics Office, Mr. Pavel had 57.8% of the vote compared with 42.2% for Mr. Babis.
Retired army General Petr Pavel defeated populist billionaire Andrej Babis in a runoff vote on Saturday to become the new Czech president.
Mr. Pavel, 61, will succeed controversy-courting Milos Zeman in the largely ceremonial but prestigious post.
“My presidency will succeed only when we all succeed together," Pavel told a cheering crowd of his supporters.
With the ballots from 97% of almost 15,000 polling stations counted by the Czech Statistics Office, Mr. Pavel had 57.8% of the vote compared with 42.2% for Mr. Babis.
Mr. Pavel is a former chairman of NATO’s military committee, the alliance’s highest military body.
He fully endorsed the country’s military and humanitarian support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia and sees the Czech Republic’s future linked to membership in the European Union and NATO.
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