Ambassador Bradtke Presents His Credentials to President Mesic,
EMBASSY OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Public Affairs Section
Zagreb, Croatia
AMBASSADOR BRADTKE PRESENTS HIS CREDENTIALS TO PRESIDENT MESIC
Zagreb, July 7, 2006 -- U.S. Ambassador to Croatia, Robert A. Bradtke, presented his credentials to Stjepan Mesic, President of the Republic of Croatia, in Zagreb on Friday, July 7, 2006.
Ambassador Bradtke was nominated to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Croatia by President George W. Bush on Thursday, April 27, 2006. The U.S. Senate confirmed this nomination on May 26, 2006.
A career Foreign Service Officer, Mr. Bradtke served most recently as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs in July 2004. He had served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs since August 2001.
Mr. Bradtke joined the Foreign Service in 1973, and his first overseas assignments were Georgetown, Guyana, and Zagreb, Yugoslavia. Returning to Washington in 1978, he served in the Office of East European Affairs and as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow, working in the offices of Senator Mathias and Congressman Cheney. In 1983, he was posted to Moscow and then to Bonn. From 1990 to 1994, Mr. Bradtke worked in the Department of State's Bureau of Legislative Affairs, becoming a Deputy Assistant Secretary in 1992 and serving as Acting Assistant Secretary from November 1992 until May 1993. In August 1994, Secretary of State Warren Christopher selected Mr. Bradtke as his Executive Assistant. Upon completing that assignment in 1996, Mr. Bradtke served for three years as Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy in London. In July 1999, President Clinton appointed Mr. Bradtke as Executive Secretary of the National Security Council. He remained in that position until July 2001.
A native of Chicago, Mr. Bradtke completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Notre Dame, including spending a year in the University's foreign study program in Angers, France. He did graduate work at the Bologna Center of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and at the University of Virginia. His languages are French, German, Russian, Italian and Croatian. He has twice been a recipient of the Department of State's Superior Honor Award. In 2001, Mr. Bradtke received a Presidential Meritorious Service Award for sustained superior accomplishment in the conduct of foreign policy and public service. Ambassador Bradtke is married to Marsha Barnes.