If Andrej Kiska's first day in office is any indication the tenor of the presidency is about to change

ANDREJ KISKA, Slovakia’s new president, was sworn on June 15th. If his first day in office is any indication the tenor of the presidency is about to change—and perhaps the tone of the country’s politics too. Inauguration day saw supportive crowds, rather than the protesters who turned up for his predecessor, cheer Mr Kiska. He later made the rounds shaking hands. Among his guests for lunch were senior citizens, orphans and the homeless. Mr Kiska criticised the culture of corruption in the country and the overall negative political atmosphere in his first speech as president several times. “The public sphere is now dominated by selfishness, nepotism, political affiliation, strong elbows and cynicism,” he said.

More significant though is the role Mr Kiska could play as a check on the otherwise dominant Smer party and Robert Fico, the prime minister. The presidential office has little formal power, but it has significant potential to mobilise public opinion. Should Mr Kiska wield the bully pulpit he would be markedly different from his predecessor, Ivan Gašparovič, who largely served as a rubber stamp for Smer.

A shift in foreign policy is on the cards. Mr Gašparovič did what he could to appear as a good international citizen. Mr Fico on the other hand has repeatedly (and controversially) reached out to Russia during the crisis in neighbouring Ukraine. Even before discussions began at a summit in March of the European Union, Mr Fico publicly announced Slovak opposition to economic sanctions on Russia. More recently he compared increased deployment of NATO troops in central and eastern Europe to the Warsaw Pact's invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.

Mr Kiska, by contrast, is truly Atlanticist. He made a point to prioritise security matters in his inaugural speech. “Slovakia cannot rely on its security being guaranteed by others, otherwise we fail to fulfil our obligations,” he said. Largely a novice in foreign affairs, Mr Kiska spent several years working in America in the early 1990s. He returned to Slovakia as an entrepreneur, founding two companies that provided high-interest loans by allowing consumers to buy appliances and home electronics in instalments. Mr Kiska later sold those firms and became a philanthropist, founding the Good Angel charity, which works with hospitals and provides help to families with children suffering from long-term illnesses and parents who have serious diseases. He beat Mr Fico in the presidential election earlier this year amid a bizarre campaign that centred on Mr Fico falsely accusing Mr Kiska of being a member of the Church of Scientology.

For his part, Mr Gašparovič (once the right-hand man of Vladimir Meciar, the thuggish prime minister in the 1990s) was very active at the end of his ten years in office. He signed into law a mish-mash of hastily conceived constitutional amendments. One change bans gay marriage. Another seeks to reform the judiciary with background checks for potential judges and other tweaks. The first has drawn criticism from human rights groups, the latter criticism from the opposition for being drafted in secret.

There is general optimism in Bratislava about Mr Kiska’s potential as head of state, but also caution. Some point to his lacklustre campaigning and his dry personality, others his dearth of experience. Many question whether he has the gravitas to stand up to Mr Fico and his political machine.