army in 2018, Pavel became a lecturer and consultant, and participated in the conferences of the Aspen Institute. On 6 April 2020, Pavel launched the initiative Spolu silnější (Stronger Together), with the aim of helping people linked with the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic, especially crowdfunding financial assistance for volunteers helping in hospitals and creating medical tools. The initiative also aimed to prepare the country for future crises. Pavel gathered various experts in the initiative including head of the State Office for Nuclear Safety , businessman Martin Hausenblas, president of the Czech Society of Emergency Medicine and Disaster Medicine Jana Šeblová, and former governor of the Olomouc Region Jan Březina. Pavel started travelling around Czech regions and gathering information about the fight against the epidemic from experts, authorities and institutions. Based on the initiative's findings, Pavel met Prime Minister Andrej Babiš to present him an anti-crisis plan created by the initiative. Some political commentators such as Petr Holec and Ondřej Leinert linked the initiative to Pavel's potential presidential bid, noting similarities with Hillary Clinton's slogan during the 2016 United States presidential election. 2023 presidential campaign 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. Pavel was reported to be the most discussed candidate at the meeting. On 29 June 2022, Pavel announced his intention to run in the 2023 Czech presidential election. He said he wanted to win the election so that the Czech Republic would not have to feel embarrassed by its president. Pavel launched his official campaign on 6 September 2022, saying he wanted to "return order and peace to the Czech Republic", running on a pro-Western, pro-European, and anti-populist platform, the views he advocated for throughout his senior military management career. On 4 October 2022, he was one of three candidates endorsed by the Spolu electoral alliance (the Civic Democratic Party, KDU-ČSL, and TOP 09). The first round was held on 13 and 14 January 2023. Pavel received 1,975,056 votes (35.4%). He finished narrowly ahead of former Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš, with whom he advanced to the second round. Pavel defeated Babiš in the second round, receiving 58.32% of the vote (3,358,926 votes) to Babiš's 41.67%. On the same day, the president of Slovakia Zuzana Čaputová personally congratulated him on his victory in