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The Trump administration’s top diplomat on Europe and Eurasia, Assistant Secretary of State A. Wess Mitchell, announced Tuesday that he would resign next month, citing personal reasons and not any disagreements with the US president or his policies.

In an interview with the Washington Post, which first reported his resignation, Mitchell said he accomplished what he set out to do since entering the job 15 months ago and wanted to spend more time with his family. “My kids have a greater claim to my time right now than the public does,” he said.

Under President Donald Trump, US-European relations have plunged to their lowest levels in decades, with the two sides clashing over trade issues, the Paris climate accord, funding for NATO, the Iran nuclear deal, and Trump’s overtures to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a speech in Brussels in December 2018 that was panned by European experts and some former US officials for criticizing multilateralism and institutions like the European Union. It highlighted the growing rift between the Trump administration and European allies, and it even prompted suggestions by the European Commission’s spokesman that Pompeo didn’t understand how EU institutions worked.

Mitchell joins a raft of senior US administration officials departing the administration as it enters its third year. Some of those departures can be chalked up to natural churn: Senior officials often leave around the two-year mark of an administration, burned out from the high demands and pressures of the job. Other departures have been much more dramatic, reflecting the chaos of the Trump administration and volatility of its leader. War Secretary James Mattis resigned last month, citing disagreements with Trump over how he treats allies. Brett McGurk, the presidential envoy on countering the Wahhabi Daesh [Arabic acronym for “ISIS” / “ISIL”], followed Mattis, quitting over Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from Syria.

“Like Secretary Mattis, the continued departure of confirmed officials who sought to sustain ballast in [trans-Atlantic ties] means rough seas ahead for US engagement in Europe,” said Mark Simakovsky, a former War Department official and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank. “Mitchell will be hard to replace as he was a solid selection with deep background and experience in Europe.”

Despite the fraught state of trans-Atlantic relations, Mitchell said in a resignation letter dated Jan. 4 that he is proud of the work he did. He cited numerous accomplishments under his tenure and made no mention of policy disagreements with Trump or Pompeo.

Shortly after Mitchell’s resignation was made public on Tuesday, Pompeo tweeted that Mitchell “has done an outstanding job as Assistant Secretary.” He added: “I have valued his counsel and wisdom as he has led our European team in this administration.”

In his nearly 16 months of the job, Mitchell drew controversy in some European policy circles for increasing US engagement with Hungary and forging closer ties with its leader, Viktor Orban—who has dismantled of some of Hungary’s democratic institutions and cracked down on free press. The policy contrasts with the approach of previous administrations.

The State Department’s deputy spokesman, Robert Palladino, said on Twitter Mitchell would depart his job on Feb. 15 and career diplomat Elisabeth Millard, who is the bureau’s principal deputy assistant secretary, will take over his job in an acting role.

But current and former officials say Millard had planned to retire in several weeks, which would leave the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs even more short-staffed.

“Mitchell has been working with Secretary Pompeo to ensure an orderly transition in leadership,” a State Department spokesperson said in response, adding that the department had no new personnel announcements to make.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team