Reaching Consensus on Senior OSCE Appointments

On July 18, 2017, the 57 participating States of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) formally approved by consensus new leaders for four OSCE institutions:

• Thomas Greminger (Switzerland): OSCE Secretary General.
• Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir (Iceland): Director of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
• Harlem Désir (France): Representative on Freedom of the Media.
• Lamberto Zannier (Italy): High Commissioner on National Minorities.

Following weeks of debate, the agreement was reached on the margins of an informal Ministerial Council meeting in Mauerbach, near Vienna, held under the auspices of the 2017 Austrian chairmanship.

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Contributors: Robert Hand, Senior Policy Advisor,
Janice Helwig, Representative of the U.S. Helsinki Commission to the U.S. Mission to the OSCE,
and Erika Schlager, Counsel for International Law