The Czech Republic held presidential elections on Friday and Saturday, with a combative former prime minister and a retired general who held a senior NATO position leading the field of contenders to succeed retiring political veteran Milos Zeman.
Although the position lacks executive authority, it has considerable power to name prime ministers, heads of central banks, and judges for the constitutional court. Additionally, presidents are the top military commanders and only have a limited say in foreign policy.
Any of the top three contenders — retired general Petr Pavel, opposition leader Andrej Babis, who served as prime minister from 2017 to 2021, and economist Danuse Nerudova — would probably be more pro-Western than Zeman, who favoured closer ties with China and, up until the full invasion of Ukraine last year, Russia.
Pavel, 61, and Nerudova, 44, both strongly support the West and the adoption of the euro as well as additional military assistance for Ukraine. They could set the agenda for public and political consultations, but they wouldn’t have any authority to make decisions in those matters.
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