PRAGUE, 29 June – RIA Novosti. During a meeting with journalists on Wednesday, General Petr Pavel, the former head of the NATO Military Committee, confirmed his intention to participate in the presidential elections in the Czech Republic on January 13-14, 2023.

“I aim to run for and win the presidential elections in the Czech Republic. After the end of the summer vacation period, we want to start the official campaign with my team. And we will publish the account numbers in the coming days. We can receive money transfers for our election campaign “, Pavel said.

At the same time, the general noted that if a representative of the democratic forces with a better chance of winning appears in the election race, he will be ready to leave the race and advise the fans to vote for this candidate.

On Monday, Senate chairman Milos Vystrcil announced that he is calling for presidential elections for January 13-14, 2023. All elections in the Czech Republic are held over two days, Friday and Saturday. If a second round is needed, it will be held two weeks later on 27-28 January 2023. Officially, the presidential campaign begins the day the Election date is published in the Compilation of Laws, which is expected to happen in the coming days.

Among the nearly 20 candidates who have already announced their intention to nominate for a seat at Prague Castle, according to the latest research conducted by the STEM/MARK agency in mid-June, are Andrei, the former prime minister, leader of the ANO movement, and dollar billionaire who received 20% of the votes of those polled. Babish, his opponent Pavel, received 16%, while the other candidates received less than 10%. At the same time, the research showed that in the second round of the election, Pavel could beat Babis by a confident margin of 60% to 40%.

General Pavel’s candidacy is supported by many representatives of the ruling right-liberal coalition. However, other liberals have so far refrained from supporting Pavel, pointing out that he was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia for some time in his youth, during the years of socialism.

In turn, Babish is pending a lawsuit in September over the fraud while receiving an EU subsidy of SEK 50 million (approximately $2.1 million) for one of its companies.

To participate in the presidential elections, candidates must collect the signatures of 50,000 citizens or get the support of 20 deputies or 10 senators.

According to Pavel, he wants the fundraising in his support to be as transparent as possible.

“We have proposed clear criteria for funds and gifts that we would not accept. For example, financial income from members of government and parliamentarians, representatives of strategic industry and facilities, and of course people associated with “wild privatization.” Excludes early 1990s, years and entrepreneurs whose origins of capital are uncertain. ” said Paul.

Candidates can use 40 million kronor (approximately $1.7 million) in the campaign for the first round of the election and 10 million crowns (approximately $435,000) for the runoff.

According to Pavel, he does not want individual contributions to his campaign to exceed 3 million kroner (about $130,000). The general signaled that some of his supporters have already indicated their willingness to make such contributions to the campaign.

Army General Peter Pavel is 60 years old. In 2012-2015 he headed the General Staff of the Czech Army. He was chairman of the NATO Military Committee in 2015-2018, thus becoming the first representative of the former socialist countries to hold the highest military post in NATO.