Politico: Czech President Petr Pavel Among Europe’s 28 Most Influential People in 2024

Czech President Petr Pavel is among the 28 most influential people who will co-determine the character of Europe in 2024, according to the Brussels-based website Politico.

In a brief profile of the Czech head of state, Politico describes Petr Pavel as an arch-hawk when it comes to both Russia and China, who has given his full-throated support to Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion, using his knowledge of NATO’s inner workings.

It also points out that the Czech president is using his experience as former head of NATO’s military committee to advocate for more effective support for Kyiv.

Politico mentions Pavel’s insistence that any peace must be based on Ukrainian terms.

Next year, the website writes, Pavel may reaffirm his welcoming approach to Taiwan, whose president, Tsai Ing-wen, he called immediately after his election as president this January, the first European leader to do so.

He also expressed hope of seeing Tsai “in person in the future” — laying the ground for an unprecedented meeting between the head of state of an EU country and Taiwan. Beijing, which claims the self-ruling island as its own, slammed the call, saying Pavel “trampled on China’s red line” and “has hurt the feelings of the Chinese people,” Politico recalls.

The website speculated that 2024 could be the year Pavel follows through on his pledge to meet Tsai — and tramples Beijing’s reddest of lines.

Other politicians on the list include for example French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.