OSCE Chairperson-in-Office welcomes appointment of new ODIHR Director

BERN, 8 May 2014 - The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter, welcomed the appointment of Michael Georg Link of Germany as Director of the Organization's main human rights body, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

Link will assume his new function on 1 July for a three-year term, after which his mandate can be renewed for another three years. He will replace Ambassador Janez Lenarčič of Slovenia, who has been heading ODIHR since 2008.

The OSCE Chair underlined ODIHR’s crucial role, not just in the field of elections, but also in promoting democracy and the rule of law and in protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the OSCE area.

Michael Georg Link, born in 1963 in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, was a member of the Bundestag from 2005 to 2013. He has an extensive background in OSCE affairs, having served as Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office in 2012 and 2013 where he focused on Germany’s co-operation with international organizations. For several years, he also chaired parliamentary working groups and committees on international politics with a focus on OSCE matters, European security and human rights. Link is fluent in English, French and Russian.