Czech Republic

Former NATO general Petr Pavel wins Czech presidential vote

Retired NATO general Petr Pavel defeated a billionaire former prime minister in an election run-off on Saturday to become the fourth president of the Czech Republic.

Pavel, a former paratrooper, won 58.3 percent of votes while Andrej Babis scored 41.7 percent, according to final results published by the Czech Statistical Office.

Democracy Digest: Czech Wages Highest in V4; New US Military Base in Poland

In other Czech news, Prague is set to take over the rotating six-month presidency of the EU from France on Friday. This would be the second time Czechia has served as the president of the EU Council since it joined the bloc in 2004. It had been hoping for a smoother ride this time, unlike in 2009 when the government collapsed during its stint, causing its presidency to be judged a disaster.

New Czech Government’s Climate Policy: Cloudy with a Chance of Curveballs

On the initial reading of the draft of the new rules, these 10 states found that wish granted. But on going through the small print, the new Czech government discovered that gas would only be classed as green until 2030 and nuclear for just the next 23 years.

Pages