The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe,North America,and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control,the promotion of human rights,freedom of the press,and free and fair elections. It employs around 3,460 people,mostly in its field operations but also in its secretariat in Vienna,Austria,and its institutions. It has observer status at the United Nations.
The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo is the officially mandated mission of the United Nations in Kosovo. The UNMIK describes its mandate as being to "help the United Nations Security Council achieve an overall objective,namely,to ensure conditions for a peaceful and normal life for all inhabitants of Kosovo and advance regional stability in the Western Balkans."
Ján Kubiš is a Slovak diplomat. He is a former minister of foreign affairs. He was appointed United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon in 2019 by António Guterres,the United Nations Secretary-General,and as head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya in January 2021.
William Graham Walker is a United States Foreign Service diplomat who served as the US ambassador to El Salvador and as the head of the Kosovo Verification Mission.
The Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI) is a multilateral regional initiative that has been initiated by the European Union,the United States of America and the countries of Southeast Europe within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) as a support to the implementation of the Dayton Accords in December 1996 at the inaugural session at Geneva on the basis of Final Points of Common EU-USA Understanding.
The political status of Kosovo,also known as the Kosovo question,is the subject of a long-running political and territorial dispute between the Serbian government and the Government of Kosovo,stemming from the breakup of Yugoslavia (1991–92) and the ensuing Kosovo War (1998–99). In 1999,the administration of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija was handed on an interim basis to the United Nations under the terms of UNSCR 1244 which ended the Kosovo conflict of that year. That resolution reaffirmed the territorial integrity of Serbia over Kosovo but required the UN administration to promote the establishment of 'substantial autonomy and self-government' for Kosovo pending a 'final settlement' for negotiation between the parties.
Astrid Gunilla Margareta Thors was a Member of the Finnish Parliament from 2003 to 2013. A Finnish-Swedish politician,formerly of the Swedish People's Party,Thors is a Candidate of Law and held several senior jobs before becoming a Member of the European Parliament in 1996 where she worked until 2004. From 2005 to 2007 she chaired the Swedish Assembly of Finland.
Miroslav Lajčák is a Slovak politician and diplomat,former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic. In addition,Lajčák also served as President of the United Nations General Assembly for the 72nd session from 2017 until 2018.
Janez Lenarčič is a Slovenian diplomat who has been serving as European Commissioner for Crisis Management in the Von der Leyen Commission since 2019. He is a former director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights within the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Natalia Gherman is a Moldovan politician who has been serving as executive director of the United Nations' Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate since 2023.
The Governance of Kosovo operates in the context of the disputed territory of Kosovo.
Ambassador Ersin Erçin is a senior Turkish diplomat,with an extensive experience in multilateral diplomacy particularly on matters of international,Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security,disarmament,and economic and environmental security.
Zohrab Hrachiki Mnatsakanyan is an Armenian diplomat. Mnatsakanyan previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Armenia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
Community of Serb Municipalities is a planned inter-municipal association of ethnic Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo.
Thomas Greminger is a Swiss diplomat. He served as Secretary-General for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) from July 2017 to July 2020. Since May 2021,he has been the Director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP). He is a general staff officer in the Swiss army.
Zef Mazi is an Albanian diplomat,ambassador,who has served as Albania's Chief Negotiator with the European Union during 2020-2022. He previously served as Special Assistant to the Director General for Strategy at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 2011 to 2018,where he has been in charge for Agency-wide strategy formulation,planning and implementation,as well as risk-management and knowledge management.
Leena Al-Hadid is a Jordanian diplomat,ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Austria,the Czech Republic,Slovakia,Hungary,and Slovenia. She also serves as Jordan's permanent representative to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the United Nations in Vienna. In 2018–2019,she was the elected chairperson of the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors.
Dominika Anna Krois is a Polish civil servant and diplomat who served as a Permanent Representative of Poland to the United Nations Office at Vienna (2019–2024).
Rita Izsák-Ndiaye is a human rights expert and former Hungarian diplomat. She has worked on human,minority and youth rights in various NGOs,the Hungarian Government and with international organizations. She served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on minority issues between 2011 and 2017,as well as member and Rapporteur of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination between 2018-2022. In 2021 and 2022,she was the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Children and Security. As of autumn 2022,she is Senior Adviser on Anti-Racism at UNDP.
Armenia–OSCE relations began when Armenia joined the OSCE's predecessor,the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE),on 30 January 1992. The CSCE transformed into the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) shortly afterwards in 1995.
