PRAGUE — Incumbent Miloš Zeman easily beat eight other candidates in the first round of the Czech presidential election but faces a stiff test to win another five-year term against the runner-up, scientist Jiří Drahoš, politico.eu writes.

With nearly all the votes counted, Zeman was credited with 38.57 percent of the vote in the election, held Friday and Saturday, with Drahoš at 26.6 percent, well ahead of third-placed Pavel Fischer, a former ambassador to France, who garnered just over 10 percent. Turnout was nearly 62 percent.

As no candidate won an absolute majority, a run-off between Zeman and Drahoš will be held on January 26-27.

The outcome of that vote will have repercussions both domestically and internationally.

Read full story by politico.eu.