Chairman-in-Office appoints Head of new OSCE Mission to FRY

VIENNA, 17 January 2001 - The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Dan Geoana, has today appointed Ambassador Stefano Sannino as Head of the new OSCE Mission to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

The Mission, acting in close co-operation with the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, will provide assistance and expertise to the Yugoslav authorities at all levels, as well as to interested individuals, groups and organizations, in the fields of democratisation and the protection of human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. Its precise mandate was established by a decision of the OSCE Permanent Council on 11 January.

Ambassador Stefano Sannino, an Italian national, has been a career diplomat since 1986. He has extensive experience in South-Eastern Europe, having served from 1993 to 1995 in Belgrade as Deputy Chief of Mission in the Italian Embassy. In 1996, he served as Political and Economic Adviser to the High Representative for the Implementation of the Peace Accords in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He speaks fluent English and French and has good knowledge of Serbian.