The OSCE announced Friday it had agreed on a new leadership package covering the organisation’s top four posts.
The announcement came on the second and final day of the organisation’s annual ministerial council meeting being held in Malta.
Feridun Sinirlioğlu from Türkiye was announced as OSCE Secretary General while Maria Telalian of Greece was named as Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
Christophe Kamp of Netherlands, meanwhile, took the post of High Commissioner on National Minorities and Norwegian Jan Braathu was appointed Representative on Freedom of the Media.
The announcement is likely to have come as a relief to the OSCE, which had been stuck in negotiations on the top leadership positions for months, after an earlier leadership proposal from Malta was not accepted.
It is understood the package had to be revised following pressure from Greece and Türkiye to include candidates from their respective countries.
Announcing the news on social media amid a busy morning of negotiations, Foreign Minister Ian Borg said the organisation had “just reached a unanimous agreement that has been discussed for years between the 57 OSCE countries.”
Calling Malta a “protagonist for dialogue and peace”, Borg said the OSCE now had “certainty about those who will lead it in the coming years.”
The announcement came before the closing remarks of the OSCE final plenary session and on the last day of a tense gathering of international leaders.
Speaking at a news conference, Sinirlioğlu said: “I take this with a deep sense of pride and duty… I know it will not be easy, there are challenges facing the OSCE region, not least in Ukraine.
“My role will enable me to act as a bridge between participating states for consensus and solutions,” he said.
An experienced diplomat, Sinirlioğlu has been active since the 1980s, rising through the ranks to become special advisor to the Prime Minister in 1991 and Foreign Minister in 2015. He also served his country at the UN for a number of years.
While there was consensus on the top leadership package – which yesterday Borg told Times of Malta could potentially help speed the end of the Ukraine war – there was no progress on the conflict at the time of publication.
The OSCE Ministerial Council welcomed delegates from 57 member states, and is likely to be the last large event of the organisation hosted by Malta, the current chair of the organisation.