New Chairman of OSCE Permanent Council assumes duties on 1 September

VIENNA, 30 August 2002 - Ambassador Francisco Seixas da Costa of Portugal has been appointed new Chairman of the 55-nation OSCE Permanent Council. Assuming his new duties on 1 September, Ambassador da Costa succeeds Ambassador Joao de Lima Pimentel as head of the Portuguese delegation to the OSCE and Chairman of the Permanent Council.

Ambassador da Costa was born in 1948 in Vila Real, Portugal, and joined the Portuguese Diplomatic Service in 1975, after having completed his studies of social and political sciences at the University of Lisbon.

In 2001 and 2002, Ambassador de Costa was Permanent Representative of Portugal to the United Nations, New York. Before his appointment to the OSCE Permanent Council, Ambassador da Costa was Vice-President of the UN General Assembly.

During his diplomatic career, Ambassador da Costa held amongst other appointments, positions as President of the Second Committee for Economic and Financial affairs of the United Nations General Assembly, Vice-President of the UN Economic and Social Council, and Portuguese negotiator of the Nice Treaty. He also presided over the Bosnia and Herzegovina Peace Implementation Council and, in 1997, was president of the Schengen Agreement. From 1995 to 2001, Ambassador da Costa held the position of Secretary of State for European Affairs in the Portuguese Government.

Ambassador da Costa has authored several studies on European affairs. He is married, with no children, and speaks English, French and Spanish.