Former Turkish Foreign Minister Sinirlioglu becomes the new OSCE Secretary General

The new Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is the former Foreign Minister of Turkey, former Turkish Permanent Representative to the UN Feridun Sinirlioglu. This was announced on December 6 by the organization's Chairman-in-Office, Maltese Foreign Minister Jan Borg.

"Congratulations to the new leadership of the OSCE! Feridun Sinirlioglu (Turkey) as Secretary General," he wrote in the social network X (former Twitter).

At the same time, Maria Telalian (Greece) took over the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Christoph Kamp (Netherlands) became the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, and Jan Bratu (Norway) became the Representative on Freedom of the Media.

The previous OSCE Secretary General was Helga Schmidt, who held the post since December 2020. Her three-year term was extended and finally expired in September 2024.

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At the meeting of OSCE foreign ministers in Malta, a minister spoke of the organization's crisis

A meeting of the OSCE Council of Foreign Ministers is taking place in Malta from December 5 to 6. The Russian delegation is headed by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who arrived at the venue the previous day.

During his speech, he pointed to the ineffectiveness of the OSCE and warned of the danger of the situation in the world moving into a hot phase. Lavrov also condemned the Maltese authorities for revoking the visa of Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, who was supposed to attend the meeting.