Top EU diplomat Helga Schmid was on Friday appointed secretary general of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Schmid, a German who is secretary general of the European External Action Service (EEAS) — the EU’s diplomatic arm — has won kudos for her diplomatic skills, notably by sealing the Iran nuclear deal in 2015.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell thanked Schmid in a statement for her “remarkable achievements,” and added that he had appointed Italian senior diplomat Stefano Sannino as her successor at the EEAS. Sannino had since February worked as the EEAS deputy secretary general for economic and global issues and was previously the Italian ambassador to Spain and the Italian permanent representative to the European Union.
In Schmid’s new leadership role at the OSCE — which has a staff of over 3,000 and a broad mandate that includes arms control, counter-terrorism, human rights and environmental activities — she will not only have to deal with burgeoning security concerns, but also internal quarrels. The post of OSCE secretary general had been vacant for several months as the organization’s 57 member countries could not agree on a joint candidate.
Among the security issues that will be in Schmid’s in-tray will be the organization’s monitoring of the fragile truce in eastern Ukraine, the peace deal in Nagorno-Karabakh, and peace and democracy-building missions in the Balkans.
“I can’t think of a better contribution to the OSCE’s capacity to act than Helga Schmid, who was entrusted today by the 57 participating states with the duty as secretary general,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a press conference following a ministerial meeting of OSCE countries.
“Helga Schmid is a top diplomat of whose caliber there are not many in Europe, and she expects an equally difficult but important task,” Maas said, adding: “In an orchestra of 57 countries, it is very important to find the right nuances, and Helga Schmid brings the necessary experience to the job.”
Schmid — who said earlier this year that her slogan is “women are the better negotiators” — said she felt “honored” by the appointment.
The OSCE also appointed former Kazakh foreign minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov as the organization’s high commissioner on national minorities, Portuguese State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Maria Teresa Ribeiro as representative on freedom of the media, and Italian politician Matteo Mecacci as director for the office for democratic institutions and human rights.