The US loses an ally

Alexander Vondra, the current Minister of Defense and former Czech Ambassador to the US has resigned.

After a series of scandals as well as the general unpopularity of the current government of which he was a fixture, Vondra felt he had lost the mandate from voters, as the above article notes. The ProMoPro scandal had to do with his handling of the rotating Czech Presidency of the EU, in which a public relations firm was paid a whole lotta cash for promotional materials and marketing strategy. While he was not directly implicated in the scandal, his office was seriously compromised, and he was never able to regain the support of the Czech population or ODS' coalition partners.

Nevertheless, Vondra has been and is one the biggest boosters of Atlantic cooperation in the Czech Republic. His departure will affect Czech management of the Euro-Atlantic relationship; even if policies do not change, the attention to which Vondra gave to relations with the US will almost certainly be reduced. US Ambassador Norman Eisen will have to increase his presence and visibility in Prague to attract the attention of any new Minister of Defense, as well as to the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs; even on matters not directly related to guns-and-rockets, Vondra was a player whose large rolodex and savvy diplomatic skills created many opportunities to cement and maintain the US-Czech partnership on a variety of fronts. 

It will also be interesting to see what is in store for Mr. Vondra after he leaves. A spot at AEI or Heritage would certainly not be out of the question; indeed, due to the relative weakness of a think tank-government nexus in Prague, a policy stopover in a foreign capital seems like a natural fit for a man whose talents lie exactly in this area. In either case, US policymakers should recultivate relationships with others in the foreign policy community in Prague, and adjust accordingly to a future MoD that may not be as willing or, more likely, as competent as Mr. Vondra. It is a loss for both the Czech Republic as well as for US interests.