Ambassador Ján Kubis appointed new OSCE Secretary General

VIENNA, 4 June 1999 - Ambassador Ján Kubis of Slovakia has been appointed as the new Secretary General of the OSCE. Ambassador Kubis will succeed Ambassador Giancarlo Aragona of Italy, who will complete his three-year term on 15 June.

Amb. Kubis, a career diplomat, brings to the job several years of experience with the OSCE. Most recently, from July 1994 - July 1998, he served as Director of the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre, which oversees OSCE operations and Missions in the field. Under the 1992 Czechoslovak Chairmanship of the CSCE, Amb. Kubis was Chairman of the Committee of Senior Officials. As Head of the Security and Arms Control Section of the Czechoslovak Foreign Ministry, he also participated in several key CSCE negotiations, including the Vienna CFE Mandate talks. From January 1993 to June 1994, Amb. Kubis was Permanent Representative of the Slovak Republic at the UN Office in Geneva.

For the past year, Amb. Kubis served as Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Tajikistan and Head of the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan.

The Permanent Council of the OSCE expressed its "gratitude to the outgoing Secretary General for his invaluable contributions to strengthening the OSCE and to developing its activities and for his dedication and integrity in the discharge of his duties."