A pro-Russian president and an academic challenger face off in a dead-heat Czech presidential vote.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Czech Republic goes to the polls in a presidential election run-off where pro-western academic Jiri Drahos is trying to oust incumbent Milos Zeman.
The vote, expected to be almost even, reflects the divisions between liberals and conservatives seen elsewhere in Europe and the United States.
The election is also said to be a referendum on Zeman, aged-73, the last prominent figure among active politicians from the country's transitional period in the 1990s. His courting of Russia and China and leaning toward far-right groups have split the nation.
A victory by Drahos could bring a voice more in tune with the European Union into Czech politics and set it apart from its ex-communist peers Poland and Hungary.