Former Presidents

Christine Muttonen (Austria) was elected OSCE PA President at the 2016 Annual Session in Tbilisi and re-elected on 9 July 2017 in Minsk. Following the 15 October 2017 legislative elections in Austria she stepped down as Assembly President on 9 November.

Among the priorities of her presidency were women’s empowerment in international politics, the security implications of climate change, the use of culture as a peace-building tool, and pursuing closer relations with OSCE Partners for Co-operation. She also advocated for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, as well as strengthening the contribution of parliamentarians to the activities of the OSCE family.

Before becoming Assembly President, Muttonen had served as Vice-President of the Assembly and as Special Representative for Central and Eastern Asia. She was also Deputy Head of the Austrian Delegation to the PA.

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Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) served as President of the Assembly from July 2014 to July 2016. He is the first person to have served as both OSCE PA President and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in the Organization's history.

First elected to his national legislature in 1975, Kanerva has held a wide variety of posts in government and parliament, including Minister of Transport, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Speaker of Parliament, and Chair of the Parliamentary Defence Committee. 

Kanerva has served as Head of the Finnish Delegation to the OSCE PA, Vice-President of the Assembly, and as Co-Chair of the OSCE PA’s Helsinki +40 Project.

Ranko Krivokapic (Montenegro) served as President of the Assembly from July 2013 to July 2014.

A nine-time elected parliamentarian, Krivokapic has been president of the Montenegrin Parliament since 2003 and has served previously in the parliaments of Yugoslavia (1993-1997) and the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006).

In Montenegro, Krivokapic he led the process of writing the declaration of independence. In the 1990s he was an anti-war activist and one of the founders of the Democratic Forum, which aimed to establish Montenegro’s multi-party system.

Wolfgang Grossruck (Austria) assumed the Presidency of the Assembly following President Migliori's departure from the Italian Parliament in March 2013, being the most senior Vice-President of the Assembly at the time. He was first elected Vice-President in 2008 and re-elected in 2011, and previously served as Rapporteur of the First General Committee.

Grossruck was first elected to the Parliament of Austria in 1995 and has been a Member of the Austrian Delegation to the OSCE PA since 1996. He has been particularly active in the Assembly’s election observation activities. In his work with the Assembly, Grossruck has visited OSCE missions in Serbia and Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo. 

Riccardo Migliori (Italy) was elected President of the Assembly at the 2012 Annual Session in Monaco. He had previously served as Vice-President of the Assembly and two terms as Rapporteur of the Political Affairs and Security Committee. Migliori was a member of the OSCE PA from 2006 and served as Head of the Italian Delegation from June 2008.

In the Italian Parliament, he was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Chair of the IPU Italy-Baltic States Friendship Group. In 2013 he did not stand for re-election.

Petros Efthymiou (Greece) was elected President of the Assembly at the 2010 Annual Session in Oslo. He had previously served as Vice-President of the Assembly and as Chair and Vice-Chair of the Second General Committee.

A former Minister of Education and Religious affairs, Efthymiou has had a long and distinguished career in both print and broadcast journalism. A founding member of the Greek socialist party (PASOK), he has been a member of the Greek parliament since 2004. Efthymiou has also been a Member of the European Parliament.

Joao Soares (Portugal) was elected President of the Assembly in 2008 at the Annual Session in Astana and re-elected to another one-year term at the 2009 Annual Session in Vilnius. He had previously served two years as Vice-President. Soares was particularly active in OSCE PA election observation missions, including serving as Special Co-ordinator of OSCE short-term observers for the 2014 presidential election in Ukraine.

Soares was first elected to the Portuguese Parliament in 1987 and has also served as a Member of the European Parliament, including as a Member of the EP Bureau. From 1995 to 2002 he was Deputy Mayor and Mayor of Lisbon, during which time he also served as a Member of the State Council. He was appointed Portugal's Minister of Culture in November 2015.

Goran Lennmarker (Sweden) was President of the Assembly from the 2006 Annual Session in Brussels until the 2008 Session in Astana. In addition to serving in numerous OSCE PA positions, including as Chair of the Assembly's First General Committee, and having led several election observation missions, Lennmarker has acted as the Assembly's Special Representative on the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict.

Lennmarker has been a Member of the Swedish Parliament since 1992 and serves as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and on European Union Affairs. Formerly a member of the Swedish delegations to the European Union and the EFTA, he has also been a Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly and served as adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden.

Alcee L. Hastings (USA) was elected President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly at the 2004 Annual Session in Edinburgh and was re-elected at the 2005 Annual Session in Washington, DC.

In the U.S. Congress, where he has represented his native state of Florida since 1992, Hastings has served as Chairman of the US Helsinki Commission, is a senior member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and is a member of the House Rules Committee. 

Bruce George (United Kingdom) was elected President at the 2002 Annual Session in Berlin. During his presidency, he emphasized the enhanced co-operation between the governmental and parliamentary dimensions of the OSCE, furthering the effectiveness of the Organization.

In addition he further developed the relations with the Mediterranean and Asian Partners for Co-operation.

Adrian Severin (Romania), a former Foreign Minister of Romania, was elected President during the 2000 Bucharest Session and was the first President of the Assembly from the Central and Eastern European region.

He worked to reaffirm institutional dialogue within the OSCE and to enhance the contribution of parliamentarians to  the OSCE's role in conflict-prevention.

Helle Degn (Denmark), a former Member of the Danish Parliament, was elected President of the Assembly during the 1998 Copenhagen Session.

She continued the work of her predecessors, significantly increasing the visibility of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly by visiting all OSCE Institutions and numerous field missions.

Javier Ruperez (Spain), former Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Spanish Parliament, became President of the Assembly 1996. He was the first President to participate in meetings of the Troika.

Frank Swaelen (Belgium), the former President of the Belgian Senate, was elected President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly at the Vienna Session in 1994.

He was the first President to address an OSCE Summit and initiated the first series of bilateral Presidential visits, including visits to OSCE field missions.

Ilkka Suominen (Finland), the first President of the Assembly, was elected at the 1992 Budapest Session. He is a former Foreign Minister of Finland. 

Suominen led the first OSCE election monitoring delegation to Russia in 1993 and became the first President to address an OSCE Ministerial Meeting.