Ambassador Werner Almhofer

Austrian diplomat Ambassador Werner Almhofer took office as Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo on 1 October 2008. Prior to that, he served as Austria's Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, to which post he was appointed in March 2005.

Ambassador Almhofer's work has focused on the Balkans since 1992, when he first joined the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Early in his diplomatic career, he held various positions at the Austrian Embassy in Belgrade. During Austria's EU Presidency in 1998, Ambassador Almhofer, as the Deputy Head of Mission at the Austrian Embassy in Belgrade, co-operated closely with the EU Special Envoy for Kosovo, Wolfgang Petritsch, and during the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship in 2000 he was involved in preparations for Serbia's readmission into the Organization.

Just prior to his posting as Austria's Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ambassador Almhofer was head of the Unit for the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy at the Austrian Foreign Ministry. His work in this capacity often focused on the Western Balkans and its European perspective.

Ambassador Almhofer is the fifth Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, which is the largest OSCE field operation.