ArmInfo. German representative Helga Schmid will be appointed OSCE Secretary General. About it the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Prime Minister, Minister of European and Foreign Affairs of Albania Edi Rama said on December 3, opening the 27th meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council.
"I am glad that we have everything prepared for the appointment of new leaders. Secretary General - Helga Schmid, ODIHR Director - Matteo Mecacci, Media Freedom Representative - Teresa Ribeiro, High Commissioner for National Minorities - Kairat Abdrakhmanov," Rama said.
"I call on all of you to help them fulfill their mandates over the next three years," the chairman added. The agreement and approval of four new OSCE representatives requires a consensus of all 57 participating States. These posts have remained vacant since 18 July 2020 after the Permanent Representatives of the participating States to the OSCE, due to disagreements, could not agree on either the reappointment or temporary extension of the powers of the former heads of OSCE bodies. The Albanian chairmanship in September recommended the organization's participants to propose new candidates for their appointment to the OSCE Ministerial Council. Initially, 11 candidates were identified for four positions: 10 from Europe, 1 from Kazakhstan.
Diplomatic sources noted that the German Helga Schmid is the favorite for the post of Secretary General, the Italian Matteo Mecacci is the favorite for the post of ODIHR, the Kazakhstani Kairat Abdrakhmanov is the High Commissioner for National Minorities, and the representative for freedom of the media is - Portuguese Maria Teresa Ribeiro. Four candidates were previously agreed upon by the permanent representatives of the OSCE participating States. The appointment of these candidates for the posts of heads of executive structures is expected by the end of the CFM work.