Zuzana Čaputová in the Presidential Palace on her inauguration day. (source: Sme - Marko Erd)
When Zuzana Čaputová mentioned, in her first speech as president, the ‘positive patriotism’ that she is happy to avow, she also referred to her earlier mention of the climate crisis. Slovakia alone cannot reverse climate change, she noted, but protecting Slovakia’s natural environment is something that only this country’s inhabitants and politicians can do.
What the new president thinks about Slovakia and its citizens
“This is an opportunity for all of us to be real patriots, regardless of our politics or our party preferences,” Čaputová said in her inaugural speech.
She put ecology next to transparency, justice, European and transatlantic values, and respect for diversity, and towards all generations, among the keywords that she highlighted when defining her presidential term, which began on 15 June.
