Petr Pavel

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Petr Pavel
Petr Pavel photo 6474.jpg
Pavel in 2020
Born (1961-11-01) 1 November 1961 (age 60)
Planá, Czechoslovakia
AllegianceCzechoslovakia (1983–1992)
Czech Republic (since 1992)
Service/branchCzech Army
Years of service1983–2018
RankGeneral
Battles/warsUnited Nations Protection Force
AwardsCross of Merit of the Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic
Medal of Heroism
Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States)
Officer of the Legion of Honour (France)
Croix de guerre (France)

Petr Pavel (born 1 November 1961) is a retired Czech army general who served as the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 2015 to 2018,[1] and as Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Army from 2012 to 2015.[2]

Education[edit]

Pavel graduated at the Military gymnasium (high school) in Opava. He continued his military study at the Military university of the Army in Vyškov and he graduated in 1983. He started as a Paratrooper in the Czechoslovak Army, serving as a platoon leader. In 1985 he joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, of which he was a member until the collapse of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia in 1989.

Pavel continued his military studies at the Military Academy (currently united with the University of Defence) in Brno (1988–1991).

Military career[edit]

Pavel worked after his graduation in the military intelligence service (1991–1993). He served in the Czechoslovak troop contingent of the United Nations Protection Force in Bosnia. His unit was sent to evacuate a French military base in January 1993, where 55 besieged French soldiers were rescued from Serbian captivity. The French army was unable to evacuate this base due to the local infrastructure and bridge having been destroyed. The Czech army was entrusted to conduct the evacuation because of their proximity to the base which was 30 Kilometres. Pavel went to the base with 29 soldiers and 2 OT-64 SKOT armed transporters. The way took two hours. Pavel's unit had to face various obstacles that slowed the operation including fallen trees on a road which soldiers had to be remove while under mortar fire. When soldiers reached the base, two French soldiers were dead and a few others were injured. French soldiers were taken into armed transporters and evacuated from the base.[3][4][5] Pavel was recognized and rewarded both in the Czech Republic and in France for his actions during the rescue.[6]

After the operation in Bosnia, Pavel served in different positions in the Czech Army – in military intelligence, in diplomacy (deputy of military attaché in Belgium), as commander of a special forces' brigade. He was appointed Brigadier General in 2002. He served as the National Military Representative at US CENTCOM. He represented the Czech Army in different international and national organizations. He studied at Staff College, Camberley, the Royal College of Defence Studies, and King's College London (graduating with a Master's degree in International Relations).[7]

Pavel during the MSC 2016

He served as Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Armed Forces of the Czech Republic from July 2011 to June 2012. Since 1 June 2012 he has served as Chief of the General Staff of Armed Forces of the Czech Republic. He was nominated by the Czech government for the position of Chairman of the NATO Military Committee in July 2014. He was appointed for this function in Vilnius in September 2014.[8] He is the first Chairman to come from a country formerly part of the Warsaw Pact. His mandate commenced in summer 2015. During a security conference in Prague, Pavel said “Russia would be able to occupy the Baltic States within two days," contradicting a statement by Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg that a rapid response force would be to respond to an attack on the Baltic states within two days.[9]

Later life[edit]

Following his departure from the army, Pavel decided to focus on lecturing and consulting.[10]

In 2019, leaders of the Civic Democratic Party, KDU-ČSL, TOP 09, Mayors and Independents and Czech Pirate Party met to discuss potential candidates for the next presidential election. Petr Pavel was reportedly the most frequently discussed candidate.[11]

On 6 April 2020, Pavel launched the initiative "Stronger Together" The aim of the initiative is to help people linked with the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic, especially to crowdfund finances for volunteers helping in hospitals or creating medical tools.[12] Some political commentators such as Petr Holec and Ondřej Leinert have linked the initiative to Pavel's presidential bid in the next Czech presidential election, noting similarities with Hillary Clinton's slogan during the 2016 United States presidential election.[13][14]

Personal life[edit]

Petr Pavel speaks Czech, English, French, and Russian. He is divorced and has two sons with his former wife Hana. In 1990s he married his second wife Eva with whom he raised his 2 sons.[15][16]

Political views[edit]

Pavel believes that rich people should pay higher taxes and supports stronger redistribution of wealth. He sees Scandinavian countries as an inspiration.[17]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "General Bartels bids farewell to NATO as General Pavel starts his tenure as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee". Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Chief of the General Staff". Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  3. ^ "VHU Praha". Čeští vojáci v 90. letech v bývalé Jugoslávii obstáli, prozrazuje nová studie. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  4. ^ "Armáda České Republiky. Symbol demokracie a státní suverenity" (PDF). mocr.cz (in Czech). pp. 102–103. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  5. ^ Lenková, Jitka. Nejdůležitější bitvy v českých dějinách (in Czech) (Vyd. 1 ed.). Alpress. p. 282. ISBN 978-80-7362-470-5.
  6. ^ "UNPROFOR – mírová mise, 1992 – 1995, země bývalé Jugoslávie, 2250 příslušníků Zahraniční mise AČR". www.mise.army.cz. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Chief of the General Staff of Armed Forces of the Czech Republic" (PDF). Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  8. ^ Lazarová, Daniela (22 September 2014). "Czech Army's chief of staff to head NATO's military committee". Radio Prague. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  9. ^ "Lt. Gen Petr Pavel: "Russia able to occupy Baltic States within two days"". The Baltic Times. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  10. ^ "Generál Petr Pavel odchází do po čtyřech dekádách do vojenského důchodu. Do politiky se nechystá". Info.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  11. ^ "Začalo hledání nástupce Miloše Zemana. Vstoupit do boje neodmítá ani těžká váha politických válek". www.seznamzpravy.cz. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Generál Pavel založil iniciativu, která pomůže lidem v boji s koronavirem". iDNES.cz. 6 April 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  13. ^ "Holec: Všechno má svůj čas. Generál Pavel "vykradl" Clintonovou a vyrazil do kampaně". Info.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  14. ^ Lederer, Benedikt (7 April 2020). "Do řešení krize se pouští i generál Petr Pavel, politiku v tom nevidí". Hospodářské noviny (iHNed.cz) (in Czech). Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  15. ^ NATO. "General Petr Pavel, Chairman of the Military Committee". NATO. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  16. ^ "Petr Pavel: Život generála, který může být prezidentem ČR". Reflex.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  17. ^ "Zocelily mě bitky ve škole. Babiš je autoritář, Kalousek vyčnívá, řekl generál Pavel". Aktuálně.cz – Víte, co se právě děje (in Czech). 8 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
Military offices
Preceded by Chief of the General Staff
2012–2015 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the NATO Military Committee
2015–2018 		Succeeded by
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