PRAGUE — Retired basic Petr Pavel, who was sworn in because the Czech Republic’s new president on Thursday, is a battle hero with a pro-Western drive and a ardour for bikes.
Pavel received the January presidential election by defeating billionaire former prime minister Andrej Babis within the run-off.
“In a victory of values, there are no winners and no losers. We are one community and we have to stick together,” Pavel mentioned after profitable.
True to his army previous, the 61-year-old vowed to “restore order” within the EU and NATO member of 10.5 million individuals.
“I can’t ignore the fact that people here increasingly feel chaos, disorder and uncertainty,” Pavel mentioned on his marketing campaign web site.
“We need to change this. We need to play by the rules, which will be valid for everyone alike.”
In the run-up to the inauguration, Pavel proved to be an lively president-elect.
He attended a safety convention in Munich in February and traveled to Czech areas the place he had misplaced to Babis, assembly voters together with the poverty-stricken Roma minority.
He additionally repeatedly voiced assist for Ukraine and Taiwan.
Though he not often smiles in public, Pavel described himself as a “very merry person” in a latest interview with AFP.
“I just don’t show that during official events. But everyone who knows me will tell you that good jokes [and] also everyday situations will make me laugh. I don’t have a problem there,” he mentioned.
Communist ‘mistake’
Born on November 1, 1961, Pavel attended each a army grammar college and a army college within the former Czechoslovakia, which was then dominated by Moscow-backed Communists.
He joined the Communist Party and started a speedy rise by military ranks.
His critics fault him for having studied to change into a army intelligence agent for the Communist military.
“I was born into a family where party membership was considered normal,” Pavel mentioned on his web site.
“I didn’t have enough information and experience to assess the criminal nature of the regime. Now I know it was a mistake.”
When Communism fell in 1989, Pavel left the occasion however went forward with the intelligence course.
An elite paratrooper, Pavel received recognition when he helped free French troopers from a Serbo-Croatian battle zone in early 1993.
‘Grandpa’
After the Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999, Pavel spent three years on the alliance’s regional command within the Netherlands.
He later earned a grasp’s diploma in worldwide relations at King’s College in London earlier than occurring to work because the Czech military’s chief of workers.
In 2015, he was appointed the top of NATO’s army committee, turning into its high army official.
With a chest filled with decorations—together with the US Legion of Merit and France’s Croix de Guerre for bravery—Pavel retired from the military in 2018.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Pavel based the “Stronger Together” initiative to assist sort out numerous crises and help these in want.
Pavel’s spouse Eva can also be a soldier. He has two sons from a earlier marriage, plus a stepdaughter, and describes himself as a “grandpa enjoying his grandchildren.”
Pavel likes to journey, ski, take images, and browse throughout his free time, however his true ardour is motorcycling.
He as soon as had a Suzuki off-road bike however switched to a dual-sport BMW.
“There won’t be too many opportunities [to ride] during the year but I believe I’ll find some,” he mentioned after driving his BMW GS1250 to a bike honest in Prague final week. — AFP
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
