The High Commissioner on National Minorities is an OSCE official. The post was established in 1992 at the Helsinki CSCE Summit. Management is located in The Hague . The main method of work is “quiet diplomacy”, the tasks are early warning of conflicts and urgent actions to prevent the development of interethnic tension into conflict. The Commissioner is appointed for a three-year period, which can be extended by no more than one three-year term.
The HCNM does not consider violations of OSCE commitments with respect to individuals and does not address issues of national minorities in situations related to terrorism. The problems of national minorities in the state of which the commissioner is a citizen, and the problems of the national minority to which he belongs, he can be considered only with the special consent of all the parties directly involved, including the state in question.
Commissars
- Max van der Stoel ( Netherlands ) - from January 1, 1993 to June 30, 2001.
- Rolf Ekeus ( Sweden ) - from July 1, 2001 to July 3, 2007.
- Knut Vollebaek ( Norway ) - from July 4, 2007 to August 19, 2013.
- Astrid Tours ( Finland ) - from August 20, 2013 to August 19, 2016. [one]
- Lamberto Zannier ( Italy ) - from July 19, 2017. [2]