Exclusive: OSCE Permanent Council paves the way for a new OSCE senior leadership package

The OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna adopted a unanimous decision today, recommending to the foreign ministers of the 57 OSCE participating states to formally approve a new OSCE senior leadership package.

OSCE diplomats, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the internal deliberations, say that the package of four names includes Feridun Sinirlioğlu from Türkiye for the post of OSCE Secretary General. Feridun Sinirlioğlu is a former diplomat and foreign minister who served in that position as part of Türkiye’s interim government in 2015.

The package furthermore includes Maria Telalian, Legal Adviser of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Head of the the Legal Department, for the post of Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights; Christophe Kamp, the current Ambassador of the Netherlands to the OSCE, for the post of OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities; and Jan Braathu from Norway, the current Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, for the post of OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media.

The breakthrough emerged today in Vienna after several meetings of the OSCE Preparatory Committee, an informal OSCE body where OSCE diplomats deliberate and prepare decisions for formal adoption.

The foreign ministers of the 57 OSCE participating states will convene in Valetta, Malta, for their annual meeting on Dec. 5-6, during which they are expected to follow the recommendation in today’s OSCE Permanent Council decision and formally approve the new leadership package, OSCE diplomats say.

This decision would fill the four top OSCE leadership posts that have been vacant since the previous mandates expired in September 2024.

Today’s decision comes after the current OSCE Chair of Malta conducted intense negotiations behind the scenes to find a solution and avoid a prolonged leadership vacuum in the organization.

Earlier this year, the Maltese OSCE Chair tabled four names out of 13 nominated candidates – but this initial Maltese proposal did not reach consensus because both Türkiye and Greece insisted on having their own candidates considered. Both countries put forward their respective candidates in a joint nomination.

After additional negotiations were held behind closed doors, an amended leadership package emerged that included the candidates from both Türkiye and Greece.

This is a developing story that may be updated.

The story was first published on Dec. 2, 2024 at 19:24 pm CET.