‘Erin Brockovich of Slovakia’ Becomes Slovakia’s First Female President

Zuzana Caputova, a lawyer and environmental activist whose campaign against a toxic waste dump earned her the nickname the “Erin Brockovich of Slovakia,” was elected the country’s first female president on Saturday, NPR reported . Caputova won the prestigious Goldman Environmental prize for her 14-year-fight against the dump, which was ruled illegal in 2013. She said the battle taught her how institutions functioned and could be manipulated, how to withstand personal attacks and that society could be improved, The New York Times reported . “I am an optimist,” she said, according to The New York Times. “Someone who believes and hopes that change is possible.” Congratulations to Goldman Environmental Prize winner #ZuzanaCaputova on her election as president of Slovakia! We… https://t.co/lE96yykJB9 — Goldman Prize (@goldmanprize) 1554008405.0 Positive change was the focus of Caputova’s campaign. She ran on promises to promote more civility in public discourse and to challenge corruption. Her win is seen as a counterweight to populist, ethnic nationalist movements that have won elections recently in central Europe. “I am happy not just for the result but mainly that it is possible not to succumb to populism, to tell the truth, to raise interest without aggressive vocabulary,” she […]

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