ambassador rudolf v. perina - Association for Diplomatic Studies and ...

ecause they did not have money to really buy much. It was a very direct reminder of the
end of the Cold War.
Q: Did you ever make any contact during this period with relatives in Czechoslovakia?
PERINA: Oh yes, I had been in steady contact with them, and my uncle and a number of
cousins and their families came down to Vienna for short visits. I, of course, had been
traveling to Prague regularly, both on private visits and for OSCE meetings. My parents
also came from the U.S. to visit us in Vienna and made visits to Czechoslovakia—in my
father’s case, his first visit since he left over 40 years earlier.
Q: Did the Italians, the Spanish, the Portuguese play any particular role?
PERINA: I can’t tell you that I recall any particular role by these delegations. It probably
played out within the EU caucus. The two countries that were consistently very helpful as
coordinators were the Dutch and the Norwegians. Both had very skilled diplomats with a
lot of OSCE experience. The Dutch were also particularly helpful on human rights issues.
Q: Their diplomatic corps is remarkable.
PERINA: It really is. They played way above their weight in CSCE and also in providing
developmental assistance.
Q: Well, I think this is a good time to move on to your next assignment in 1992?
PERINA: 1993. I had a year in the Senior Seminar from 1992 to 1993.
Q: How did you find the Senior Seminar?
PERINA: I was ready to decompress for a year, and I had always heard good things about
the Senior Seminar. It was a great year.
Q: It is focused on getting to know the United States. Did you find any parts of your
travel or study particularly interesting to you?
PERINA: It was all interesting and, as you say, it focused on the United States. We
visited Mexico City and Canada but did not make any overseas trips. The whole idea was
to acquaint diplomats with the United States and current issues within the United States
so that we could better represent the country overseas. We did things like visiting Alaska
and flying the length of the oil pipeline, visiting the New York stock exchange, patrolling
the Texas-Mexican border with border police, cruising with police patrols in Baltimore,
visiting Boeing in Seattle, Coca Cola in Atlanta, an aircraft carrier and nuclear
submarine, a missile silo, you name it. We saw every part of the United States and crisscrossed
the country several times. It was an excellent program which unfortunately no
longer exists.
60