Bookies backing Schwarzenberg to become next Czech president

The Czech Republic’s bookmakers are backing Karel Schwarzenberg to become the first directly elected president of the country, the news website lidovky.cz reported on Sunday. Miloš Zeman led the opinion polls going into the first round and confirmed the role of favourite by coming first with 24.2 percent of the vote. However, Mr. Schwarzenberg scored far better than expected with 23.4 percent. The betting firm Fortuna for instance is offering odds of 1.4 to 1 on a win for Mr. Schwarzenberg and 2.5 to 1 on a win for his rival.