Former NATO general becomes new President of Czech Republic

PRAGUE: Petr Pavel, a former chairman of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) military committee, has become the new president of the Czech Republic on Saturday, Al Jazeera reported. Pavel, 61, defeated billionaire Andrej Babis in a run-off vote to replace controversial President Milos Zeman as he emerged as the new Czech President.

A former military general, Pavel got more than 58 per cent of the vote, according to the Czech Statistics Office.

"I would like to thank those who voted for me and also those who did not but came to the polls because they made it clear they honoured democracy and cared about this country," Al Jazeera quoted Pavel as saying, as he spoke after the election victory. He has been a vocal supporter of the European Union and NATO, seeing the Czech Republic's future as inextricably linked to their membership.

Time and again, Pavel has also expressed his support for the country to provide military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine during the conflict with Russia, according to Al Jazeera. Notably, as none of the eight initial candidates received an absolute majority in the first round of voting two weeks ago, the election was decided in a second-round run-off between Pavel and Babis.