{"id":4521,"date":"2026-06-30T12:52:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/4521\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T12:52:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:52:15","slug":"general-hlavac-takes-over-czech-military-pledges-stronger-army-and-closer-nato-readiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/4521\/","title":{"rendered":"General Hlav\u00e1\u010d takes over Czech military, pledges stronger army and closer NATO readiness"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t<\/p>\n

\"Miroslav<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Miroslav Hlav\u00e1\u010d and Jarom\u00edr Z\u016fna (right)|Photo: Roman Vondrou\u0161, \u010cTK<\/p>\n

Lieutenant General Miroslav Hlav\u00e1\u010d officially became Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces on July 1 after symbolically taking over command from General Karel \u0158ehka during Armed Forces Day celebrations at Prague’s National Memorial on V\u00edtkov. Earlier in the day, President Petr Pavel formally appointed him to the country’s highest military post.<\/p>\n

As Chief of the General Staff, Hlav\u00e1\u010d becomes the senior military commander responsible for the command, readiness and long-term development of the Czech Armed Forces. His appointment comes at a time when the military is implementing major modernisation projects while also working to meet NATO capability targets amid a deteriorating European security environment.\u00a0According to Seznam Zpr\u00e1vy defence reporter Kate\u0159ina Gruntov\u00e1, Hlav\u00e1\u010d’s extensive military experience makes him a natural choice for the position:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Petr<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Petr Pavel, Karel \u0158ehka and Miroslav Hlav\u00e1\u010d|Photo: Office of the President<\/p>\n

“He has served in the military since the 1990s. He began his career in the artillery branch and later took part also in several deployments to Kosovo or Afghanistan. For the past eight years, he held a position in the highest military command. So it means he knows the army very well.”<\/p>\n

NATO commitments remain the priority<\/p>\n

Kate\u0159ina Gruntov\u00e1 says Hlav\u00e1\u010d’s priorities are largely a continuation of the course already set by the Czech military leadership:\u00a0“His main priorities as the new Chief of the General Staff are predictable: to fulfill NATO commitments by preparing two brigades for the collective defense. And he also intends to focus on air defense.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Kate\u0159ina<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Kate\u0159ina Gruntov\u00e1 and V\u00edt Pohanka|Photo: Radio Prague International<\/p>\n

Hlav\u00e1\u010d succeeds General Karel \u0158ehka, who led the armed forces during a period marked by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, accelerated military modernisation and increased defence spending. During Tuesday’s ceremony, \u0158ehka said he believed he was handing over “an army stronger than the one I inherited.”<\/p>\n

An outspoken predecessor<\/p>\n

General \u0158ehka often attracted public attention not only for military issues but also for his willingness to speak openly about defence policy and publicly warn when political decisions threatened military preparedness. His occasionally tense relationship with former Defence Minister Jana \u010cernochov\u00e1 (Civic Democratic Party) became one of the defining features of his tenure.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Jana<\/p>\n

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Jana \u010cernochov\u00e1 and Karel \u0158ehka|Photo: Jan Schejbal, Czech Ministry of Defense<\/p>\n

Gruntov\u00e1 believes that openness became one of \u0158ehka’s most important legacies:<\/p>\n

“It is the way he stood out in his willingness to communicate openly the defense topics with the public, which is not usual when you’re talking about soldiers… If the government assigns him a task but doesn’t provide legislation or funding, he just has to say so publicly. So this is the root of these arguments between him and Mrs. \u010cernochov\u00e1.”<\/p>\n

Although Hlav\u00e1\u010d is expected to adopt a somewhat different public style, Gruntov\u00e1 does not expect any significant change in the military’s strategic direction.<\/p>\n

Appointment followed political disagreement<\/p>\n

Hlav\u00e1\u010d’s appointment was not entirely without political controversy. While Prime Minister Andrej Babi\u0161, President Petr Pavel and the government ultimately backed his nomination, Defence Minister Jarom\u00edr Z\u016fna (Freedom and Direct Democracy Party) did not vote for him when the cabinet approved the appointment in May, saying he could imagine a stronger candidate.\u00a0According to Gruntov\u00e1, however, the disagreement was unlikely to have been about Hlav\u00e1\u010d’s professional qualifications.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Miroslav<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Miroslav Hlav\u00e1\u010d and Petr Pavel|Photo: Office of the President<\/p>\n

“Z\u016fna said he could imagine a stronger candidate for this role. But in my view, the real reason behind this is that Z\u016fna and Hlav\u00e1\u010d had known each other for a very long time and they have some kind of personal issue. Moreover, Z\u016fna himself wanted to become Chief of the General Staff in the past, but was unsuccessful. So I think it’s more like a personal issue. But both men stated they intend to be professional and work together. So we will see.”<\/p>\n

Whether that relationship develops smoothly could become important as the Czech military enters a demanding period. Alongside the delivery of major new weapons systems, the armed forces must continue expanding personnel, strengthening air defence and meeting ambitious NATO capability goals. Those tasks will require close cooperation between the military leadership and the government regardless of any personal differences.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Miroslav<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Miroslav Hlav\u00e1\u010d |Photo: Michaela Danelov\u00e1, iROZHLAS.cz<\/p>\n

For now, Hlav\u00e1\u010d has made clear that his focus is on continuity. As he takes command of the Czech Armed Forces, he inherits an army undergoing its biggest transformation in decades\u2014and one expected to play an increasingly important role within the NATO alliance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Miroslav Hlav\u00e1\u010d and Jarom\u00edr Z\u016fna (right)|Photo: Roman Vondrou\u0161, \u010cTK Lieutenant General Miroslav Hlav\u00e1\u010d officially became Chief of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4522,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[402,2333,2574,248,7,2573],"class_list":["post-4521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-army","tag-czech-republic","tag-domestic-affairs","tag-foreign-policy","tag-nato","tag-radio-prague-international"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}