Ambassador Marc Perrin de Brichambaut appointed OSCE Secretary General

VIENNA, 10 June 2005 - The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on Friday appointed Ambassador Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, a senior French diplomat, as OSCE Secretary General for a three-year term.

Ambassador de Brichambaut's appointment takes effect from June 21.

He succeeds Ambassador Jan Kubis of Slovakia, who is leaving the OSCE after completion of his second three-year term as Secretary General.

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, congratulated the new Secretary General on his appointment, noting that he takes over at a challenging time when the organization is undergoing intensive discussions on its future.

"His job will not be easy, but I am convinced that with his enormous experience, he will make an invaluable contribution to meeting the challenges the OSCE faces. He takes over in the year in which we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act and I know he will provide leadership and vision in the years ahead," the Chairman-in-Office said.

Minister Rupel said the Slovenian Chairmanship was devoting considerable energy to reform of the OSCE and hoped the 55 participating States would reach consensus on the way ahead for the Organization in the second half of this year.

"I am confident that the input of Secretary General-designate de Brichambaut will be a significant contribution to the reform process and that he will help to ensure that the OSCE remains dynamic and effective," he said.

Ambassador de Brichambaut, who has been Director for Strategic Affairs at the French Defence Ministry since 1998, has had a distinguished career since graduating from the Ecole Nationale d'Administration in Paris in 1974.

Born in Rabat, Morocco in 1948, he has worked as senior adviser to several French foreign ministers and defence ministers. He worked at the United Nations in New York and had diplomatic assignments in Washington and Vienna.

The Chairman-in-Office paid tribute to outgoing Secretary General Kubis.

"Ambassador Kubis has served the OSCE with energy, great integrity and dedication," he said. "He has been a wise counsellor to me and my predecessors as Chairman-in-Office. I look forward to an equally fruitful relationship with Ambassador de Brichambaut."