Elections26: Cahojova Announces Candidacy for Bratislava Mayor Post

Bratislava, 13 January (TASR) - Long-time mayor of Bratislava’s borough of Karlova Ves Dana Cahojova held a news conference on Tuesday to announce her candidacy for the post of Bratislava mayor in the local elections due to be held this autumn. Cahojova will run as an independent candidate. She views halting Bratislava's growing debt as the biggest challenge. Her priorities include functional transport, responsible management, addressing issues that actually trouble people, and maintaining order in the city. "I don't want to be just another candidate, I want to be the main challenger to Matus Vallo. My decision is firm. The city isn't functioning as we would like and need it to," stated Cahojova, adding that the capital urgently needs change. Cahojova wants to offer responsible and honest public service to all residents of Bratislava without distinction. Together with expert teams, she'll focus primarily on recovering the city's finances and seeking solutions in the field of transport. She prefers smaller projects with a bigger impact for residents. In addition to transport, her main priorities include accessible services, sustainable urban development, environmental protection, strong cooperation between the city council and municipal districts and professional city governance. She views the lack of affordable housing as a very serious matter. She opposes further increases in real-estate taxes as well as higher fees for water supplies, parking and waste collection. She views the reintroduction of 15-minute tickets [for public city transport] as essential. Cahojova believes that the city has fallen under the sway of developers who prefer their own interests to those of the city. She claims that only "extensive political marketing and disappointment at control of the city being taken over by a single political party, or rather a single team," is left from the great expectations surrounding current mayor Matus Vallo. Cahojova's candidacy is supported, for example, by Petrzalka mayor Jan Hrcka and vice-mayor Iveta Jancokova, former Old Town mayor Zuzana Aufrichtova, former Old Town mayor and current city councillor Radoslav Stevcik and others. Bratislava city and regional councillor Martin Winkler announced his candidacy for the Bratislava mayor post back in May 2025. Current mayor Vallo hasn't yet officially said whether he intends to re-run for the post. Transport Minister Jozef Raz's (a Smer-SD nominee) name has been mentioned in connection with the post as well, but he's neither confirmed, nor rejected this claim as yet. ko/df