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

OSCE Chairpersons-in-Office

2012: Eamon Gilmore (Ireland)
2011: Audronius Ažubalis (Lithuania)
2010: Kanat Saudabayev (Kazakhstan)
2009: Dora Bakoyannis, followed by George Papandreou (Greece)
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 Schüssel, 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)

Future Chairmanships

The OSCE Chairmanship will be held by Ukraine in 2013.