{"id":3529,"date":"2023-01-29T16:23:40","date_gmt":"2023-01-29T16:23:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londonpost.news\/?p=3529"},"modified":"2023-03-23T18:36:36","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T18:36:36","slug":"petr-pavel-retired-nato-general-elected-president-of-czech-republic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/politics\/petr-pavel-retired-nato-general-elected-president-of-czech-republic\/2023\/01\/29\/admin1\/","title":{"rendered":"Petr Pavel elected President of Czech Republic by defeating former prime minister"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prague (AP) Retired<\/span> NATO<\/span> General<\/span> Petr<\/span> Pavel<\/span> defeated<\/span> billionaire<\/span> former<\/span> prime<\/span> minister<\/span> in<\/span> Saturday’s<\/span> run-off<\/span> vote<\/span> to<\/span> become<\/span> Czech<\/span> Republic’s<\/span> fourth<\/span> president,<\/span> final<\/span> results<\/span> show.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>According<\/span> to<\/span> the<\/span> Czech<\/span> Statistical<\/span> Office,<\/span> former<\/span> paratrooper<\/span> Pavel<\/span> received<\/span> 58.3%<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> votes,<\/span> while<\/span> Andrei<\/span> Babis<\/span> received<\/span> 41.7%.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>After<\/span> the<\/span> results<\/span> showed<\/span> him<\/span> winning,<\/span> Pavel<\/span> said,<\/span> “I<\/span> want<\/span> to<\/span> thank<\/span> those<\/span> who<\/span> voted<\/span> for<\/span> me<\/span> and<\/span> those<\/span> who<\/span> didn’t<\/span> vote<\/span> but<\/span> did.”<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cI<\/span> think<\/span> values<\/span> \u200b\u200bsuch<\/span> as<\/span> truth,<\/span> dignity,<\/span> respect<\/span> and<\/span> humility<\/span> prevailed<\/span> in<\/span> this<\/span> election,\u201d<\/span> he<\/span> added.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> 61-year-old<\/span> Pavel<\/span> said<\/span> he<\/span> will<\/span> replace<\/span> President<\/span> Zeman<\/span> in<\/span> March<\/span> as<\/span> Milos.<\/span> President<\/span> Milos<\/span> Zeman<\/span> is<\/span> an<\/span> outspoken<\/span> and<\/span> divisive<\/span> politician<\/span> who<\/span> maintained<\/span> close<\/span> ties<\/span> with<\/span> Moscow<\/span> until<\/span> his<\/span> reversal<\/span> last<\/span> year<\/span> when<\/span> Russia<\/span> invaded<\/span> Ukraine.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Voter<\/span> turnout<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> EU<\/span> and<\/span> his<\/span> NATO<\/span> member<\/span> states<\/span> is<\/span> unusually<\/span> high<\/span> at<\/span> 10.5<\/span> million,<\/span> putting<\/span> him<\/span> above<\/span> 70%<\/span> after<\/span> a<\/span> bitter<\/span> and<\/span> controversial<\/span> campaign.<\/span> Babis<\/span> and<\/span> his<\/span> family<\/span> have<\/span> been<\/span> targeted<\/span> with<\/span> death<\/span> threats,<\/span> and<\/span> Pavel<\/span> has<\/span> fallen<\/span> prey<\/span> to<\/span> a<\/span> hoax<\/span> claiming<\/span> he<\/span> is<\/span> dead<\/span> due<\/span> to<\/span> widespread<\/span> disinformation<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> latest<\/span> campaign.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>“Our<\/span> community<\/span> has<\/span> been<\/span> hurt<\/span> somewhat<\/span> by<\/span> the<\/span> presidential<\/span> campaign,<\/span> by<\/span> the<\/span> many<\/span> crises<\/span> we<\/span> have<\/span> faced<\/span> and<\/span> are<\/span> facing,<\/span> and<\/span> by<\/span> the<\/span> political<\/span> style<\/span> that<\/span> is<\/span> prevalent<\/span> here<\/span> these<\/span> days.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>“It<\/span> has<\/span> to<\/span> change,<\/span> and<\/span> you<\/span> helped<\/span> me<\/span> take<\/span> the<\/span> first<\/span> step<\/span> toward<\/span> that<\/span> change.”<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Babis,<\/span> who<\/span> served<\/span> as<\/span> prime<\/span> minister<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> Czech<\/span> Republic<\/span> from<\/span> 2017<\/span> to<\/span> 2021,<\/span> congratulated<\/span> Pavel<\/span> after<\/span> the<\/span> vote<\/span> and<\/span> conceded<\/span> his<\/span> defeat.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>“I<\/span> want<\/span> him<\/span> to<\/span> become<\/span> president<\/span> of<\/span> all<\/span> citizens<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> Czech<\/span> Republic,<\/span> sensitive<\/span> to<\/span> their<\/span> problems<\/span> and<\/span> to<\/span> fight<\/span> for<\/span> the<\/span> interests<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> Czech<\/span> Republic,”<\/span> he<\/span> added.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Although<\/span> its<\/span> role<\/span> is<\/span> largely<\/span> ceremonial,<\/span> the<\/span> Czech<\/span> president<\/span> appoints<\/span> the<\/span> government,<\/span> elects<\/span> the<\/span> central<\/span> bank<\/span> governor<\/span> and<\/span> constitutional<\/span> judges,<\/span> and<\/span> serves<\/span> as<\/span> commander<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> armed<\/span> forces.<\/span> Federal<\/span> President<\/span> Frank-Walter<\/span> Steinmeier<\/span> said<\/span> he<\/span> was<\/span> looking<\/span> forward<\/span> to<\/span> “deepening<\/span> close<\/span> cooperation”<\/span> between<\/span> the<\/span> two<\/span> countries.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>“I<\/span> can’t<\/span> wait<\/span> to<\/span> meet<\/span> you<\/span> in<\/span> person<\/span> and<\/span> wish<\/span> you<\/span> strength<\/span> and<\/span> success,”<\/span> he<\/span> added.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Pavel<\/span> will<\/span> be<\/span> his<\/span> fourth<\/span> Czech<\/span> president<\/span> since<\/span> the<\/span> Czech<\/span> Republic<\/span> gained<\/span> independence<\/span> after<\/span> being<\/span> peacefully<\/span> partitioned<\/span> from<\/span> Slovakia<\/span> in<\/span> 1993.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>His<\/span> predecessors<\/span> were<\/span> anti-communist<\/span> Vaclav<\/span> Havel,<\/span> economist<\/span> Vaclav<\/span> Klaus<\/span> (2003-2013),<\/span> Zeman,<\/span> who<\/span> led<\/span> the<\/span> country<\/span> from<\/span> 1993<\/span> until<\/span> 2003.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>A<\/span> military<\/span> college<\/span> graduate,<\/span> Pavel<\/span> was<\/span> recognized<\/span> as<\/span> a<\/span> hero<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> Serbo-Croatian<\/span> War<\/span> when<\/span> he<\/span> helped<\/span> liberate<\/span> the<\/span> French<\/span> army<\/span> from<\/span> the<\/span> war<\/span> zone.<\/span> He<\/span> rose<\/span> to<\/span> become<\/span> Chief<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> Czech<\/span> General<\/span> Staff<\/span> and<\/span> Chairman<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> NATO<\/span> Military<\/span> Commission.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Like<\/span> Babis,<\/span> Pavel<\/span> was<\/span> a<\/span> Communist<\/span> Party<\/span> member<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> 1980s.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>But<\/span> the<\/span> carefully<\/span> trimmed<\/span> beard<\/span> and<\/span> grey-haired<\/span> man<\/span> has<\/span> a<\/span> passion<\/span> for<\/span> high-performance<\/span> motorcycles<\/span> and<\/span> is<\/span> now<\/span> an<\/span> avid<\/span> supporter<\/span> of<\/span> EU<\/span> and<\/span> NATO<\/span> membership.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Pavel,<\/span> an<\/span> independent<\/span> president<\/span> unaffected<\/span> by<\/span> party<\/span> politics,<\/span> has<\/span> vowed<\/span> to<\/span> continue<\/span> to<\/span> support<\/span> aid<\/span> to<\/span> war-torn<\/span> Ukraine<\/span> and<\/span> its<\/span> bid<\/span> for<\/span> EU<\/span> membership.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>European<\/span> Commission<\/span> President<\/span> Ursula<\/span> von<\/span> der<\/span> Leyen<\/span> said<\/span> in<\/span> a<\/span> tweet<\/span> that<\/span> she<\/span> welcomed<\/span> Pavel’s<\/span> “strong<\/span> commitment<\/span> to<\/span> European<\/span> values”.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[280,2480,2482],"tags":[864,918,919,920,921],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/natognrl.webp","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3529"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3529"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3534,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3529\/revisions\/3534"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}