State Secretary Lenarcic Appointed OSCE Human Rights Office Boss

Ljubljana, 14 May

European Affairs State Secretary Janez Lenarcic was endorsed by the 56 members of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to win the post of its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the prime minister's office said on Wednesday.

Lenarcic, who is to take the post on 1 July, was accepted over five candidates from Belgium, Italy, Greece, Switzerland and Turkey. The silent procedure for his appointment ran out at noon on Wednesday and by that time none of the OSCE members opposed his appointment, the office added.
Lenarcic has already served as the head of the Slovenian mission to OSCE between 2003 and 2006, and chaired its Permanent Council during Slovenia 2005 stint at the helm of the organisation. He will replace Austria's Christian Strohal.
Finland, which is currently chairing the OSCE, launched procedures to appoint a new ODIHR chief in January. The Slovenian government adopted a decision to nominate Lenarcic in early February, while Lenarcic presented his bid to OSCE representatives in Vienna on 26 February.
Lenarcic is to continue performing his duties as European Affairs State Secretary until the end of Slovenia's six-month stint at the helm of the EU. Thereafter he will assume the highest-ranked post that any Slovenian had so far held in the OSCE.
In presenting his bid, Lenarcic said that ODIHR must remain impartial and cannot serve as a tool in the hands of an individual participating country.
"It is and can only be the tool of the OSCE as a whole. It can only fulfill its mission when it acts professionally and with equal determination whenever and wherever in the OSCE region its mandate requires."
"ODIHR should be fully responsible and cannot be ambivalent in relation to its mandate and its mission. It cannot and must not be ambivalent in the face of human rights violations, erosion of democracy or of the rule of law," he stressed.
ODIHR is based in Warsaw, Poland, and is the OSCE's main institution for promoting democratic elections. It was established in 1990 and employs over 100 people. Its representatives monitor elections, democratic development, human rights, tolerance and non-discrimination, and rule of law in all OSCE members.

State Secretary Lenarcic Appointed OSCE Human Rights Office Boss

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