Former minister Petr Gandalovič described as hot candidate to be new US ambassador

Separately, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg described former Civic Democrat minister Petr Gandalovič as a hot candidate to become the Czech ambassador to the United States. The foreign minister said he expected the government to agree on a nomination that would be presented to the president in the coming days. The Czech Republic has been without an ambassador to the US for around six months. New US ambassador to the Czech Republic Norman Eisen is expected to start in the post by the end of January. This follows a two year gap in filling the vacancy. Mr. Gandalovič is a former minister for regional affairs and minister of agriculture and mayor of the northern city of Ústí. He was Czech consul general in New York between 1997 and 2002.