President Caputova vetos bill on professional foster parents

President Zuzana Caputova vetoed a bill on professional foster parents on Tuesday over concerns that some provisions might fly in the face of the Slovak Constitution as well as the Agreement on the Protection of Human Rights and Basic Freedoms, TASR learned from the President's spokesperson Martin Strizinec on the same day. Professional foster parents act as temporary parents, paid by the state on a monthly basis, before long-term foster parents can be found to adopt abandoned children. Caputova warned that the legislation demands that applicants interested in the job of a professional foster parent must submit information on their religion, nationality and mother tongue in order to preserve the religious and national identity of a child. "I find the acquiring of such personal data an inappropriate interference with the private and family life," stated Caputova. (TASR)