AThere was a surprise guest at the election party of Petr Pavel, future President of the Czech Republic. Zuzana Čaputová, the President of neighboring Slovakia, appeared late on Saturday afternoon. She congratulated Pavel and expressed her joy that there would be a Czech head of state “who respects democratic values and whose strength comes from peace”. It was only a flying visit, but it was unusual diplomatically and only justified by the time after the polling stations had closed. And through the particularly close relationship between the Czechs and Slovaks, who spent most of the 20th century together in one country.
In the usual ways, be it old-fashioned letters or Twitter messages, a large number of well-wishers did not hesitate to congratulate Pavel, a former general, on his clear success over former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. Colleagues from the region got in touch, including Hungarian President Katalin Novák, who had pledged to please Babiš in December with a joint appointment at the Serbian border. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (with rather stiff wording) and French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated him. In her congratulatory address, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasized the diplomatic experience of the former chairman of the NATO Military Committee.
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