President Petr Pavel is due to appoint the Chief of the General Staff, Miroslav Hlaváč, army general at Prague Castle on 28 October 2026 and to promote 15 other men.
On 28 October 2026, the day of the founding of the independent Czechoslovak state, President Petr Pavel is due to appoint the Chief of the General Staff, Miroslav Hlaváč, army general at Prague Castle. It is the highest rank in the Czech army. In all, the government has proposed promotions for 16 members of the army and the security services.[1][2][3]
Proposed ranks
The deputy chiefs of the General Staff Petr Čepelka and Pavel Lipka, the commander of the Velitelství pro operace Jaroslav Míka and the director general of the Vězeňská služba Tomáš Hůlka are to be promoted to lieutenant general.[1][2]
The new major generals are to be the director general of the customs administration Pavel Kotraba, the director of the Útvar rychlého nasazení Libor Lochman, the deputy commander of the Velitelství pro operace Jan Štěpánek and the commander of the Air Force Petr Tománek.[1][2]
The rank of brigadier general is to go to the director of the Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic Martin Legner, the director of the Office for Foreign Relations and Information Miroslav Toman, Jan Bouda and Petr Čeklovský from the military components, the deputy commander of the Air Force Karel Krejčiřík, the commander of the 7th Mechanised Brigade Miroslav Vybíhal and the director of the logistics section of the Ministry of Defence Karel Zapletal.[1][2]
Appointment procedure
The government of Andrej Babiš (ANO) approved the proposals on 5 October 2026 in four resolutions. In mid-September 2026 the president met the defence minister Jaromír Zůna (for SPD) and the justice minister Jeroným Tejc (for ANO), who presented their candidates to him. The president promotes to general ranks twice a year, on 28 October and 8 May. In May 2026 he promoted eight men to brigadier general and two to major general.[1][2][3]
Chronology
- — President Petr Pavel is to appoint Hlaváč army general, the highest military rank, and promote 15 more men to general, so that 16 new ranks will be awarded in total. ČTK / České noviny Novinky.cz