The Czech Republic elects former general Pavel as its new president

EPA

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 16:19

Former general Petr Pavel becomes the new president of the Czech Republic. After a neck-and-neck race in the first round, he won the second round with almost 58 percent of the vote, as expected. His rival was former Prime Minister Andrej Babis. With a capital of 3.2 billion euros, he is one of the richest people in the country.

Pavel has worked for NATO and is seen as someone who is not afraid of making difficult decisions. Babis is considered a populist and was acquitted of millions of fraud shortly before the elections.

Vote in social debate

The presidency in the Czech Republic is a primarily ceremonial position, but the president does have an important voice in the social debate. The elections were dominated by the war in Ukraine.

The two candidates were diametrically opposed on this point. Pavel unconditionally supports Ukraine, also militarily. Babis called his rival a “belligerent man” who would like to further escalate the conflict with Russia. Pavel called that nonsense. The former general is also in favor of the introduction of the euro and is in favor of same-sex marriage.

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