Alexandr Vondra
Alexandr "Saša" Vondra (IPA: [ˈalɛksandr̩ ˈvondra]) (born 17 August 1961 in Prague) was the foreign minister of the Czech Republic from 4 September 2006 to 9 January 2007 and Senator for Litoměřice district for the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) since autumn Czech Senate election, 2006. In the new government reshuffle announced for late December 2006, he is to become a deputy Prime Minister for European affairs.
He graduated in geography from Charles University in Prague in 1984. In the mid-1980s he was a dissident and Charter 77 signatory, imprisoned for two months, and co-founded Civic Forum.
In 1990-1992, Vondra was foreign policy advisor to President Václav Havel. When Havel stepped-down from his office during dissolution of Czechoslovakia and at the same time independent Czech foreign service began to be formed, Vondra became Czech Republic's First Deputy Foreign Minister in August 1992, responsible i. a. for negotiating the division of Czechoslovak diplomacy. In March 1997 Vondra left to become the Czech Ambassador to the United States, staying there until July 2001. From March 2001 to January 2003, Vondra was the Czech Government Commissioner responsible for preparation of 2002 Prague summit of the NATO. From January to July 2003 Vondra was a Deputy Foreign Minister.
He became paying ODS member only after his ministerial appointment and the victory in Senate elections in October 2006. He is generally perceived as pro-United States and wary of European integration though less than ODS Euroskeptic hardliners and has good connections to Havel (his announced return to politics in spring 2006 was taken as a sign of ODS trying to appease the political centre); this makes his new post rather ironic, not to say superfluous, but in forging the new coalition in autumn of 2006, ODS ceded the foreign ministry to his predecessor Cyril Svoboda from Christian Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party whose pro-EU line is also closer to the Green Party that enters the government as well.
He is married and has 3 children.
External links
- http://www.alexandrvondra.cz – official webpage stressing his senatorial role
- Vondra's statement at the general debate of the 61st session of the United Nations General Assembly (scanned images in PDF format)
| Preceded by Cyril Svoboda |
5th Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic 2006-2007 |
Succeeded by Karel Schwarzenberg |
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