Vienna (dpa) – Top-ranking EU diplomat Helga Schmid was appointed as secretary general of the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) on Friday, diplomats told dpa.
The German secretary general of the EU diplomatic service is best known as one of the chief negotiators of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers.
Schmid takes over the Vienna-based OSCE as the conflict-resolution platform faces crises in Belarus, Ukraine and the regional Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The post of OSCE secretary general and other senior posts had been vacant since July, after Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Turkey opposed extending the terms of the OSCE’s media and democracy watchdogs.
On Friday, foreign ministers from the 57 OSCE member countries appointed Schmid and three other officials by consensus in an online meeting, according to the diplomats.
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