About

The responsibilities of the Chairman-in-Office (CiO) include

• co-ordination of the work of OSCE Institutions;
• representing the Organization;
• supervising activities related to conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation.

The Chairmanship rotates annually, and the post of the Chairman-in-Office is held by the Foreign Minister of a participating State. The CiO is assisted by the previous and succeeding Chairmen; the three of them together constitute the Troika. The origin of the institution lies with the Charter of Paris for a New Europe (1990), the Helsinki Document 1992 formally institutionalized this function.

OSCE Chairmen-in-Office

2008: Ilkka Kanerva followed by Alexander Stubb (Finland)
2007: Miguel Angel Moratinos (Spain)
2006: Karel De Gucht (Belgium)
2005: Dimitrij Rupel (Slovenia)
2004: Solomon Passy (Bulgaria)
2003: Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, followed by Bernard Rudolf Bot (The Netherlands)
2002: Jaime Gama, followed by Antonio Martins da Cruz (Portugal)
2001: Mircea Dan Geoana (Romania)
2000: Wolfgang Schuessel, followed by Benita Ferrero-Waldner (Austria)
1999: Knut Vollebaek (Norway)
1998: Bronislaw Geremek (Poland)
1997: Niels Helveg Petersen (Denmark)
1996: Flavio Cotti (Switzerland)
1995: Laszlo Kovacs (Hungary)
1994: Beniamino Andreatta, followed by Antonio Martino (Italy)
1993: Margaretha af Ugglas (Sweden)
1992: Jiri Dienstbier, followed by Josef Moravcik (Czechoslovakia)
1991: Hans-Dietrich Genscher (Germany)

At the 15th OSCE Ministerial Council in Madrid in November 2007, it was decided that the Chairmanships for 2009-11 would be held by the following countries:

2009: Greece
2010: Kazakhstan
2011: Lithuania