Voters in Slovakia elected activist Zuzana Čaputová their first female president over the weekend, delivering a rebuke to right-wing nationalism.
Politico framed Čaputová’s win as “cause for celebration for pro-EU and democratic forces throughout Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in Brussels.”
The 45-year-old lawyer and political novice secured 58 percent of the vote in Saturday’s runoff election, easily beating European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič, who nabbed just 42 percent of the vote.
Šefčovič was backed by the ruling Smer-SD party. Čaputová is part of the newly-formed Progressive Slovakia, and her platform calls for justice for all, dignity for the elderly, and environmental protection.
Čaputová’s lengthy and successful campaign against a toxic waste dump in her home town of Pezinok earned her the moniker the “Erin Brokovich of Slovakia” as well as the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 2016.
Applauding her electoral victory, the prize committee wrote on Twitter, “We cannot imagine a stronger advocate for the Slovak people and environment.”
Her activism has continued since the Goldman award. More recently, she’s taken to the streets as part of the wave of protests against the 2018 murders of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová.
Kuciak, as Agence France-Presse reported,
had been preparing to publish a story on alleged ties between Slovak politicians and the Italian mafia.
The killings forced then prime minister Robert Fico to resign but he remains leader of the populist-left Smer-SD and is a close ally of the current premier.