Tim Guldimann named new head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo
Berne, 02.10.2007 - The Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Àngel Moratinos Cuyaubé, has appointed the Swiss diplomat, Tim Guldimann, to be the new head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.
The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) welcomes this appointment and is convinced that, on the strength of his long experience and his many qualities, Mr Guldimann is highly suited to take on this demanding task.
Tim Guldimann joined the FDFA in 1982. His early diplomatic career included postings in Cairo, Geneva and Bern. From 1996 to 1997, he headed the OSCE support group in Chechnya, and from 1997 to 1999, he was head of the OSCE Mission in Croatia. In 1999, the Federal Council appointed him to the post of Ambassador in Iran and Afghanistan with residence in Tehran. Since mid-2004, Mr Guldimann has been on temporary leave from the FDFA to take up the post of Professor of Political Science at the University of Frankfurt.
Switzerland is an active member of the OSCE and committed through its foreign policy to the promotion of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. It submitted Tim Guldimann’s candidature to the OSCE as part of its policy to fill more high-ranking positions within the OSCE with Swiss nationals.
The OSCE Mission in Kosovo (OMiK) was created on the basis of a decision of the Permanent Council, of 1 July 1999. It is integrated within the overall framework of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and is responsible for the areas of human rights and minority rights, the rule of law, the creation of democratic institutions, and the organisation of elections. It is the most comprehensive of all the OSCE’s 19 missions with a staff of about 1000.
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