List of presidents of the Czech Republic

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The Czech Republic is a parliamentary representative democracy in which the president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government.

Contents

The first president of the Czech Republic was Václav Havel. The current president, Petr Pavel, was sworn into office on 9 March 2023.

Until 2012, presidents were elected by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate for a term of five years. Since 2013, presidents have been elected by popular vote.

Presidents of the Czech Republic

Political parties
   Civic Democratic Party (ODS)
   Party of Civic Rights (SPO)
Other factions
   Independent
No.PortraitName
(Birth–Death)
ElectionTerm of officePartyPrevious office(s)
Took officeLeft officeTime in office
1 Vaclav Havel.jpg Václav Havel
(1936–2011)		 1993
1998 		2 February 19932 February 200310 years Independent President of Czechoslovakia
(1989–1992)
2 Vaclav Klaus headshot.jpg Václav Klaus
(born 1941)		 2003
2008 		7 March 20037 March 201310 years ODS Prime Minister
(1992–1998)
President of the Chamber of Deputies
(1998–2002)
3 Zeman M 1.JPG Miloš Zeman
(born 1944)		 2013
2018 		8 March 20138 March 202310 years SPO President of the Chamber of Deputies
(1996–1998)
Prime Minister
(1998–2002)
4 Petr Pavel.jpg Petr Pavel
(born 1961)		 2023 9 March 2023Incumbent2 years, 156 days Independent Chief of the General Staff
(2012–2015)
Chair of the NATO Military Committee
(2015–2018)

Timeline

Petr PavelMiloš ZemanVáclav KlausVáclav HavelList of presidents of the Czech Republic

Languages spoken by the presidents of the Czech Republic

All four presidents of the Czech Republic have shown proficiency in languages other than Czech. All presidents are so far fluent in English and Russian language. Václav Klaus is the president who is proficient in the most languages.

Václav Havel

Václav Havel spoke some English and used it repeatedly during his tenure as president as he was reading several speeches in English. [1] Havel most notably used his English when he gave a speech to a Joint session of the United States Congress on 21 February 1990, which he started in English but continued in Czech after a few sentences, and the speech was translated by Michael Žantovský, then spokesman of Občanské fórum. [2] Žantovský later jokingly claimed that Havel made his famous speech only to him and it was him, Žantovský, who actually spoke to US Congress. [3] Havel also knew Russian, which he learned at school. [4]

Václav Klaus

Václav Klaus is fluent in English, Russian, German, French and Italian. [4] He published a number of publications in English and German languages. Klaus stated that his proficiency with foreign languages was helped by studies of international trade at the Prague University of Economics and Business, where he was required to learn at least three foreign languages. [5]

Miloš Zeman

Miloš Zeman is fluent in English, Russian, and German. He used English and Russian during his tenure while talking to foreign politicians. [6] [7]

Petr Pavel

Petr Pavel is fluent in English, Russian, and French. [4] Pavel reportedly has known English well since his youth, which helps his career in the army as only few people there knew the language. [8] Pavel learned French during an intelligence course in 1988–89. [9]

Comparison table

President English Russian German French Italian
Václav Havel FluentFluent
Václav Klaus FluentFluentFluentFluentFluent
Miloš Zeman FluentFluentFluent
Petr Pavel FluentFluentFluent

See also

References

  1. ↑ Cemper, Jan (21 May 2020). "HOAX: Václav Havel neuměl žádný jazyk a kam to dotáhnul". Manipulátoři.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  2. ↑ Oppelt, Robert (21 February 2020). "Havlův velký americký triumf. Před 30 lety mu Kongres aplaudoval vestoje". iDNES.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  3. ↑ Šídlo, Jindřich (22 February 2020). "Co se tehdy dělo, bylo tak absurdní! Václav Havel před 30 lety v Kongresu". Seznam Zprávy (in Czech). Seznam.cz, a.s. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 Horáček, Filip. "Petr Pavel ve srovnání s ostatními prezidenty. Zlatá střední cesta a naprostý průměr". Reflex.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  5. ↑ "Klaus zkouší nového ministra z jazyků". iDNES.cz (in Czech). 14 March 2003. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  6. ↑ "Na 'tituly' mezi kandidáty vede Drahoš, jazyky akcentuje Horáček". Lidovky.cz (in Czech). 7 January 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  7. ↑ Břešťan, Robert (11 May 2015). "Klaus, Zeman, Putin: muži, kteří si spolu rozumějí. I bez tlumočníka". HlídacíPes.org (in Czech). Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  8. ↑ Sokol, Petr. "Petr Pavel: Život generála, který může být prezidentem ČR". Reflex.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  9. ↑ Fridrichovský, Jan (22 November 2022). "Petr Pavel před Listopadem a po něm". CEDMO (in Czech). Retrieved 13 March 2024.
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