Andrea Orizio takes up duties as Head of OSCE Mission to Serbia

BELGRADE, 6 October 2016 – Ambassador Andrea Orizio, an Italian career diplomat, assumed his duties as Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia.

“I look forward to continuing the Mission’s successful co-operation with the Government of Serbia and its stakeholders at all levels in implementing our mandate. In a spirit of partnership and to promote ownership, the OSCE Mission to Serbia, as a bearer of shared values and principles, provides assistance and expertise to help the host country strengthen its democratic institutions, entrench the rule of law, reform law enforcement agencies, bolster the protection of human rights, and foster media freedom and quality journalism.”

Ambassador Orizio has in-depth knowledge of the region, coming to Belgrade from Rome, where he served as Balkans Director at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation. In the early 2000s, he was Deputy Head of Mission at the Italian Embassy to Croatia and later served as Head of the Western Balkans Department at the Italian Foreign Ministry.

Between 2013 and 2014, he was Head of the Counter-Terrorism and Organized Crime/G7 Unit at the Foreign Ministry. From 2008 to 2013, Orizio was Deputy Head of Mission at the Italian Embassy to Egypt. Between 2005 and 2008, he served as First Counselor at the Italian Permanent Delegation to NATO in Brussels.

Earlier in his career he was posted to Prague, Czech Republic, and served on the Africa Desk and in the Office of the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Defense Minister.

Ambassador Orizio holds a degree in Law from the University of Milan, and completed his post-graduate specialization at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies in Milan, at the Italian Society for International Organizations  in Rome and at the Ecole Nationale d’Administration.  Besides his native Italian, he is fluent in English and French.