PA President and SG welcome appointments of top four posts at the OSCE, urge renewed commitment to multilateralism

COPENHAGEN, 4 December 2020 – Welcoming the OSCE’s new Secretary General, Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, High Commissioner on National Minorities, and Representative on Freedom of the Media, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President and Secretary General today expressed hope that the filling of these positions marks the beginning of an era of renewed commitment to co-operation and dialogue.

“On behalf of the Bureau of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, I welcome today’s positive news about the appointments to the top four posts in the OSCE,” said OSCE PA President George Tsereteli (Georgia). “The Assembly’s leaders are eager to work closely together with our counterparts in all OSCE institutions to advance the goals of building comprehensive security in all dimensions – the political-military, economic and environmental, and human rights. I am confident that the close and fruitful co-operation developed over recent years will be continued and further deepened, and that today’s decision on these leadership positions represents a renewed commitment to values of multilateralism and international co-operation at the heart of the OSCE’s mission.”

OSCE PA Secretary General Roberto Montella said: “I congratulate the Albanian Chairmanship for steering this process and reaching consensus. I look forward to working with Helga Schmid as the new Secretary General, Kairat Abdrakhmanov as High Commissioner on National Minorities, Maria Teresa Ribeiro as Representative on Freedom of the Media, and Matteo Mecacci as ODIHR Director. In particular in election observation, but also in many other fields, the OSCE PA has a special relationship with the ODIHR, which we expect to develop further under the leadership of the former Chair of the OSCE PA’s human rights committee, Matteo Mecacci. All OSCE institutions must work together in the interests of delivering real results to the citizens of the OSCE area.”

Earlier this week, the PA issued a Call for Action to generate political impetus and raise public awareness to counter the decline of multilateralism affecting the OSCE. The “OSCE Call for Action: Reaffirming a Common Purpose” initiative has been endorsed by 51 former OSCE Chairpersons-in-Office, Presidents of the OSCE PA, Secretaries General and other Heads of Institutions of the OSCE.