A sweeping victory at the polls in Czechia has delivered the top post in the country to retired NATO general Petr Pavel, who obtained 58 percent of the vote over his challenger, former Prime Minister and billionaire Andrej Babis.

President-elect Pavel ran a no-nonsense campaign, spoke about truth, honesty, and humility, and his message rang with voters who showed up en masse to vote for him. Pavel won even in regions where his opponent was believed to dominate.

In 2018 and 2019, bills to legislate same-sex unions were proposed in the Czech legislature but died as they faced opposition from the incumbent president Milos Zeman.

Pavel says he supports same-sex marriage, just as 75 percent of Czechs do according to some polls. On the campaign trail he said he would not offer "pie in the sky" promises and would instead focus on achievable aims. According to Pavel, this is one of those issues.

Adopting the Euro as a legal tender in this country is also something Pavel supports; he sees it as another step to firmly cement Czechia in the West and strengthen relations with European Union partners.

On common defense, President-elect Pavel, as a former top-ranking military NATO official, knows the importance of the military alliance. He has indicated that one of the most pressing issues Europe faces is the Ukraine conflict and has plans to travel to Kyiv with Slovak President Suzanna Čaputova to reaffirm his country’s commitment to NATO.

Pavel perhaps best summed it when the polls closed and all votes were counted; his victory was not his alone. "I would like to thank not only those who voted for me but also I would like to thank those who did not vote for me but who came out to vote because it's clear that they care about democracy and what happens in this country," he told voters.