The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Serbia’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić, today appointed Austrian diplomat Martin Sajdik as his new Special Representative in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group.

„Austrian Ambassador Martin Sajdik shall succeede Swiss Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini as my Special Representative,“ the OSCE Chair has stated. „Given the importance of the task ahead of us, which is to try and reach a diplomatic solution for the crisis in and around Ukraine, Ambassador Sajdik will start working immediately. He will, together with Ambassador Tagliavini, attend a meeting of the four working groups operating under the auspices of the Trilateral Contact Group and tasked with the implementation of the Package of Measures agreed in Minsk on 12 February, scheduled for 23 June in the Belarus capital,“ he said.
„During our last week’s talks, my Austrian colleague, Minister Sebastian Kurz, reassured me of Austria’s support to the Serbian OSCE Chairmanship. We have had an excellent cooperation so far, and I am certain that it will only be fortified with today’s appointment, as well as during our next year’s cooperation within the OSCE Troika,“ Dačić said, using the opportunity to thank Ambassador Tagliavini on her excellent performance and to welcome Ambassador Sajdik to his team.
“I congratulate Ambassador Sajdik on his appointment and wish him every success. The work of the Trilateral Contact Group is indispensable in order to de-escalate the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. We have therefore proposed an experienced Austrian diplomat, the current ambassador to the United Nations in New York, Mr. Martin Sajdik to succeed the current Special Representative, Swiss Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini. Ambassador Sajdik is highly qualified given his prior postings to New York, Moscow and Bejing, as well as his excellent Russian language skills,” Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurtz has stated.
“I am looking forward to continue our close cooperation with the Serbian OSCE Chairmanship, in particular with Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić, also in view of the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship in 2017,” concluded the Austrian minister.