Miloš Zeman wins second term as Czech president

He beat rival Jiří Drahoš in a close runoff vote.

Czech President Miloš Zeman fought off a strong challenge from political novice Jiří Drahoš to win a second five-year term as head of state.

With virtually all of the votes counted, the 73-year-old Zeman had received 51.37% of the vote, against his challenger’s 48.62%. Turnout was just short of 67%. Zeman and Drahoš had topped a field of nine in the first round of the election, two weeks ago.

The result is likely to be viewed as bad news in Brussels, since Zeman has been in almost constant disagreement with the EU, notably regarding the migrant quotas and sanctions against Russia.

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