A woman puts an end to populism in Slovakia

PARIS – Liberal lawyer Zuzana Caputova, a 45-year-old active anti-corruption activist with a strong environmental conviction, took a hard blow this weekend to the populist axis of Central Europe, which has become the first woman to hold the office of president to the presidency.

Slovakia

, after defeating populist candidate Maros Sefcovic by 58.38% against 41.62% of the vote in the second round of voting.

From a geopolitical point of view, his victory is great news for the European Union (EU) and a terrible setback for the Visegrad group, a right-wing populist coalition of Central Europe that has up to 39, now Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. . This bloc, more or less led by the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, is a true ultranationalist pole and a bitter enemy of immigration within the EU. Caputova's coming to power can turn the direction of this small post-communist democracy, which since 2004 is a member of the EU and NATO. Caputova won his victory thanks to a real "repudiation front" against the candidacy of Sefcovic, European Commissioner, supported by former Prime Minister Robert Fico and his successor, Robert Pellegrini, accused of maintaining close relations with the Mafia