Visit at the OSCE HQ: ZIF meets new OSCE Secretary General

At the start of the year, ZIF Managing Director Dr Astrid Irrgang travelled to Vienna to meet with the new Secretary General of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Feridun H. Sinirlioğlu, Germany's Permanent Representative, Ambassador Susanne Schütz, and some of our seconded civilian experts at the organisation's headquarters there. Working closely with our partners – the international organisations – is critical to our success.

In talks with the recently appointed OSCE Secretary General, Astrid Irrgang discussed how the organisation can remain effective in the face of geopolitical differences. Other important discussion partners were the Head of Human Resources, Mariam Kakkar, and the Director of the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre, Kate Fearon. The OSCE, as the world's largest regional security organisation, has been under enormous pressure since Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, if not before. What formats for dialogue can it offer the participating European, Central Asian and North American states?

Germany is represented at the organisation's headquarters in Vienna by a permanent mission. Ambassador Susanne Schütz invited  German secondees on site to a networking reception to discuss the current situation and possible courses of action. Germany remains one of the organisation's most important financial contributors and personnel providers. This is an important signal at a time when support for international organisations is declining dramatically. Behind this is the conviction that international crisis management requires organisations that have fought together for a mandate and a set of common values, that offer experience and expertise and can act as reliable partners or neutral mediators.

German personnel for the OSCE

On behalf of the Federal Foreign Office, the ZIF seconds German civilian experts to the OSCE's headquarters in Vienna, to programme offices and missions in participating states as well as other OSCE institutions, such as the Office of the High Commissioner on Freedom of the Media and the Office of the High Commissioner on National Minorities.

There are currently 28 German experts working for the OSCE. Germany also holds important leadership positions such as
* Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje
* Acting Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova
* Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek
* Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.

With numerous well-trained, mostly volunteer election observers each year, we also support international election observation missions of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

What does the OSCE do?

The OSCE is the world's largest security organisation, with its comprehensive concept of security based on three dimensions: the political-military dimension, the economic and environmental dimension, and the human dimension. It comprises 57 participating States and emerged 51 years ago from the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe.