New OSCE Secretary General pledges to enhance effectiveness and co-ordination

VIENNA, 4 July 2011 - Newly appointed OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, speaking to the 56 OSCE participating States at a special session of the Permanent Council, said he would work to strengthen the OSCE Secretariat's effectiveness, raise the Organization's profile and improve co-ordination among the different parts of the OSCE.

He emphasized the OSCE’s unique role and the need to make this role clearer in an “increasingly crowded field of international actors”.

"The OSCE plays a unique and indispensable role in the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian area. Its comprehensive security concept, its inclusive membership, its early warning and conflict prevention tools, the expertise and networks of its institutions, the concrete assistance delivered by its field operations – these are invaluable assets that cannot simply be replaced by others," Zannier said.

Zannier was the Director of the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre from 2002 to 2006. Since June 2008 he has served as UN Special Representative for Kosovo and the Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo. He took up the position as OSCE Secretary General on 1 July, succeeding Ambassador Marc Perrin de Brichambaut.