Pro-EU academic battles euroscepticism in push to unseat Czech president

FILE PHOTO: Czech presidential candidate Jiri Drahos holds a horse during a campaign ahead of an election run-off on January 26-27, at a farm near the town of Kamenny Ujezd, Czech Republic January 19, 2018. REUTERS/David W Cerny/File Photo

KLATOVY, Czech Republic (Reuters) - Jiri Drahos is a staunch pro-European in one of the EU's most eurosceptic member states, and yet he is in a neck-and-neck race to win the Czech presidency this weekend.

A softly-spoken chemistry professor, Drahos has to overcome voters' suspicions that he is soft on immigration, and raise a relatively low profile - one third of the country did not even know who he was two months ago.