Petr Gandalovič

The classic route to becoming a foreign ambassador in Washington is via the diplomatic promotion ladder of increasingly senior posts, but that was hardly the path followed by Czech Republic Ambassador Petr Gandalovič. True, he was his country’s consul-general in New York 16 years ago. But he had previously been, in turn, math and science teacher, member of the Federal Assembly that drafted the Czechs’ post-Soviet constitution and the mayor of his hometown Ústí nad Labem. This was before entering the rough and tumble world of Czech politics as a member of the Czech Parliament and minister of agriculture — all the while putting his diplomatic career on hold. He believes his multi-layered professional life has given him a more down-to-earth approach to his present job than a classic diplomatic career. But in a recent wide-ranging interview in his office, he was diplomatic in addressing some of the issues facing the Czech Republic. He stressed his country’s strong belief in a united Europe, but hinted that Prague was in no hurry to fulfill its commitment to join the troubled eurozone — and would take about six more years to get there. The tall, dapper, well-spoken ambassador also suggested that Russian President Putin’s Crimean land grab had sent a frisson of anxiety through the former Soviet satellites. It was resulting in some hard thinking in East European capitals about the wisdom of relying totally on the North Atlantic Alliance for their defense, and the need to invest more in their own security.

In January, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka formed a centrist government ending months of political vacuum that followed the resignation of his predecessor, Petr Nečas, in a spying and bribery scandal. What was once Czechoslovakia split into two sovereign states following the collapse of the Soviet Empire in 1989. Vaclav Havel — playwright, founder of the Charter 77 dissident group and one of the patron saints of the anti-Soviet protest movement in Eastern Europe — was the Czech Republic’s first post-Soviet president and the guiding force in the country’s transition to a democratic society. Last month, a bust of Havel was unveiled in the statuary hall of the U.S. Congress next to the bust of Winston Churchill, bringing together the man who defined the Iron Curtain and the man who helped bring it down.

Diplomatic Connections: Let me begin with a question about the Czech Republic’s position on two crisis fronts, the IS in the Middle East and the situation in Ukraine. The Czech Republic is sending a large shipment of weapons to reinforce the moderate insurgents in Syria, but when it comes to dealing with fallout from the Ukraine, the Czech defense minister has spoken against the proposal for deploying troops of the North Atlantic Alliance in the Czech Republic as part of the Obama administration’s call for a “unified response.”

Ambassador Gandalovič: What the minister of defense said was that he thinks the Czech public may have a problem with foreign troops on Czech soil. He was just trying to elaborate why this would be so, and the reason is that we are not a frontier state [with Ukraine]. In this respect, Czechs may not feel they really need troops; it’s not a question of not welcoming or wanting such a deployment, but of “do we need it?” Czechs perhaps feel secure. Look, we have been in Afghanistan for the whole period. Our troops never had any caveats [some units were permitted to fire only in self-defense] and they always went to the most dangerous places. In this respect, we have always walked the walk. As far as talking the talk, Ukraine is not an easy or black-and-white situation. There are many debates, and as with every debate there is always a danger of something being taken out of context. I would like to strongly argue that when it comes to deeds, the Czechs have never actually balked at action. When it comes to discussion, we are a nation of skeptics. If someone says “A,” we ask, “What about B?” and that starts a discussion.

Diplomatic Connections: Has the Czech Republic put in place the European Union sanctions against Russia?

Ambassador Gandalovič: The Czech Republic has implemented all the sanctions which have been approved by the European Union, and I think I can safely state that if there will be a need for more sanctions, the Czech Republic will not be the one to block this European effort. Will we discuss the scope and effect of these sanctions? Yes, we will. I think it’s perfectly legitimate to discuss to what extent existing sanctions are proving to be effective.

Diplomatic Connections: What has been the impact of sanctions so far in the Czech Republic?

Ambassador Gandalovič: So far, the economic impact has been in the hundreds of millions of dollars, at the most. But the reciprocal sanctions imposed by Putin on Czech exports have had a significantly bigger impact because they affect agriculture and the food industry. For instance, the long-term effect on the fruit growers, who are living on the edge of the economy in the sense that they operate on small profit margins, could be devastating.

Diplomatic Connections: What is your assessment of bi-lateral relations with the United States?

Ambassador Gandalovič: I would be a bad ambassador if I said they are not good. But at the same time I would be a bad ambassador if I didn’t see many opportunities which we both had not used. The relationship of the United States with the Czech Republic and vice versa is above the weight of our country’s size and population. In the area of shared values and human rights we have always supported non-government organizations which defend human liberties. But also in the diplomacy we represent the United States in Syria; we have hosted the U.S. interest section for more than two years now, since the situation in Syria forced the U.S. to close its own embassy. In Afghanistan, we may have a small contribution in numbers, but per capita we are one of the biggest contributors. Our bi-lateral trade has almost doubled in the past three or four years to $3.5 billion, but still there are so many opportunities for our businesses in the U.S. as well as for American investors and exporters in our country.

Diplomatic Connections: So then why isn’t bi-lateral trade bigger?

Ambassador Gandalovič: After the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, we focused mostly on European Union member states, and the EU now represents almost 80 percent of our external trade — which means that now we have to look beyond EU countries. Given the situation with Russia, we really need to explore our opportunities in the U.S. I don’t want to do a commercial, but I do want to point out that as the Czech Republic carries out planned increases in the defense budget, it will be an opportunity for U.S. exporters. On the other side we think the Czechs have a lot to offer in different layers of defense material to the U.S.

Diplomatic Connections: Does the embassy stay in touch with the Czech-American community?

Ambassador Gandalovič: It’s one of my priorities, and something I devote a lot of my time to. I travel a lot to visit these communities; they’re almost everywhere in America, each with a different story. There are strong Czech-American communities in the Midwest, where Czechs have been settled since the 19th century. There’s a strong Czech-American presence in Chicago. In the early 20th century, Chicago was said to be the largest Czech city after Prague, which might have been exaggerated, but the evidence to the fact is that in the 1920s there was a Czech mayor in Chicago, Anton Cermak. He was assassinated in Miami by a bullet some believe was meant for President Roosevelt. Many Czechoslovak Jews emigrated to America fleeing from the Nazis before World War II, and many Czechs fled to the U.S. from the communists after the war. They came in search of freedom and settled everywhere, even in Alaska.

Diplomatic Connections: How is Russia viewed in the Czech Republic, especially since the crisis in the Ukraine?

Ambassador Gandalovič: We in the East had thought that Russia was going to be a more or less normal democracy, a country that would still be a little difficult but would be on a sustained path to democratic values. I think that the same view was shared by successive American administrations, always with the hope that Russia would become a partner rather than a foe. Ukraine was firstly a grave mistake by President Putin because it caused so many opportunities to be lost. And it served as a wake-up call on, for example, the importance of the North Atlantic Alliance, the importance of cohesion in the Western democratic world to which we belong. It was a reminder that we need to take more care of our own defense. So many things have changed during this year.

Diplomatic Connections: How so?

Ambassador Gandalovič: Our preoccupation in the last couple of years was actually to learn how to be a normal member state of the European Union, which is not easy. The European architecture is by no means final and it’s a moving target, a developing story. Eastern European countries were really busy with our re-integration into the European Union. Now we realize that it is not a finished business and we have to be responsible for defending our Western values and our Western democracy — our freedom. We had felt it was necessary to keep expanding our democracy Eastward, which is why, together with Poland and Sweden, we formed the Eastern Partnership Program aimed at former Soviet republics — to assist them on their way towards democracy. The Eastern Partnership was meant have a free trade agreement with the Ukraine. You know how that ended.

Diplomatic Connections: Given the current uncertainty in the eurozone, does Prague have second thoughts about joining the euro? And if there are no second thoughts, shouldn’t there be?

Ambassador Gandalovič: Technically, as part of our accession [to the EU], and according to a referendum in our country, we are committed to adopting the euro some time when conditions will allow. So the question is not if, but when. But there is very little support in the political sphere, as well as among economists and the general public for rushing into the eurozone. Had it not been for the eurozone crisis, we would now be on our way to entering the eurozone. This was the plan presented in 2006 when the economy was still growing at about 5 percent. But in 2008 the economic crisis hit. In 2009 it was clear that our economy was going to be in a deep recession — we lost between 3 and 5 percent of our GDP — so nobody was arguing in favor of any speedy introduction of the euro. And then in 2010 – 2011 the eurozone crisis began which even further complicated the wisdom of such a project among our public. At the same time, we are an export-based economy — about 70 percent of our GDP actually originates from foreign trade — and most of our trading partners are in the eurozone. There isn’t much support for it, and we’re not going to join in any rushed way — but sooner or later as part of our commitment we will have to. There isn’t any official date, and frankly, what we’re talking now is anything between five or six years.

Diplomatic Connections: At the same time the skepticism about the European Union has boosted right-wing political groups, who are often outside the political mainstream. Isn’t that so in the Czech Republic?

Ambassador Gandalovič: As I said, the Czechs are skeptics by nature. We do not need right-wing extremists to create that debate. We debate across the entire political spectrum. The presence of right-wing political parties is much lower than in neighboring countries. In the Czech Republic there is very little support for extremist or “brownish” movements — luckily, of course.

Diplomatic Connections: In the economy, until recently, the policy was one of austerity and restraint — pretty much the German line. But Prime Minister Sobotka has said he wants to change this. How far is he with the change, and will it work?

Ambassador Gandalovič: We have had this debate across the Atlantic. While the U.S. preferred a monetary expansionist policy with the aim that at the end of the day it will help domestic spending and lead to growth, in Europe the situation wasn’t as easy. America accumulated more and more national debt but nobody was worried about the rating, or about the future of the economy. Well, maybe the rating agencies were, but definitely not the markets. While in Europe, at every sign of relaxation of fiscal policies, the markets would punish with exorbitant interest rates. Then you end up spending more on the interest than you would have spent on new highways or new hospitals. The previous [conservative] government emphasized the conservative fiscal policy. Today’s government is in a better position in the general macro-economic situation because, actually, the national debt is around 43 percent of GDP, inflation is about 3 percent, unemployment has gone down to 7 percent. Czechs are skeptics, but at the same time Czechs are also prudent. It’s not a matter of left or right; even the left will not bring our economy to indebtedness. What we’re talking about is a debate about a tenth of a percentage point of spending.

Diplomatic Connections: Are you saying that you were under pressure from Washington to ease up on austerity measures?

Ambassador Gandalovič: I wouldn’t say it was between Washington and Prague. It was between Washington and Brussels. There was a discussion to what extent Brussels should allow the Europeans to apply austerity as a formula for recovery. We did not play any active part; we just tried to keep our domestic finances in order, and today we have our household reasonably in order. It allows our government to relax on some of the spending, including the defense spending, so that in 10 years defense spending should reach 2 percent.

Diplomatic Connections: Your career has seemed to go back and forth between politics and diplomacy. Do you find the transition easy?

Ambassador Gandalovič: I initially won a seat in the Federal Assembly. This was a very exciting time between 1990 – 1992 when we first drafted the new Czech constitution and the bill of rights. Then we needed to reform almost the entire legal system and pave the way for extensive privatization of property. When the Federal Assembly had done its work, it abolished itself in order to make way for free elections. Then I joined the diplomatic service and I was the consul-general in New York. And in New York I saw [Mayor Rudy] Giuliani turning around the city. It was also exciting seeing New York becoming a friendly place to live. I was so privileged to be close to that and it caused me to think of becoming a mayor myself. So when the offer came I accepted. I ran and I won the election in my hometown, putting my diplomatic career on hold with a leave of absence. It’s very useful to see things from the perspective of daily mayoral responsibilities — even chores, I would say. So that you do not just scratch the surface, but you really get to know how difficult it is to run even a city, to communicate with a constituency.

Diplomatic Connections: Then you entered national politics…

Ambassador Gandalovič: After four years as a mayor, I ran for national office and became a parliamentarian, and then served for two-and-a-half years as a member of the cabinet. I was minister of agriculture. When I talk to a governor or mayor here in the United States, we have a lot of things to talk about. When I explain something about my country, I speak from direct experience, rather than sterile diplomatic talk.

Diplomatic Connections: Would you advise ambassadors to spend some time as elected officials?

Ambassador Gandalovič: I wouldn’t go that far. I would say that as a mathematician and a physicist and a former mayor, I have some things that my colleagues don’t have. At the same time I respect the traditional diplomatic education and experience.

Diplomatic Connections: Talk a little about your impressions of working as an ambassador in Washington.

Ambassador Gandalovič: I love America. They say that a diplomat sooner or later is affected by the host country syndrome, that you begin to represent the host country rather than your own. Having spent five years in New York and now three in Washington, I am addicted to the host country but at the same time keep in mind that I represent my own country, and I have strong feelings about that.