International Desk: Former army chief and high NATO official Petr Pavel won the Czech Republic’s presidential election on Saturday with a pledge to keep the country firmly anchored in the West and bridge society’s political differences, reports CNN.

Pavel, a 61-year-old retired general running for office for the first time, won 58.3% of the vote with all voting districts reporting final results, defeating billionaire ex-premier Andrej Babis, a dominant but polarizing force in Czech politics for a decade.

Pavel, a social liberal who had campaigned as an independent and gained the backing of the center-right government, conveyed a message of unity when addressing his supporters and journalists at a Prague concert venue on Saturday as results showed he had won.

“Values such as truth, dignity, respect and humility won,” he said.

“I am convinced that these values are shared by the vast majority of us, it is worth us trying to make them part of our lives and also return them to the Prague Castle and our politics.”