Roman Haider (Austria)

Roman Haider was appointed Special Representative on Central Asia in October 2018. He was first elected to the Austrian Parliament in 2008, where he currently holds the position of Deputy Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee and is a Member of the Austria-Central Asia Parliamentary Friendship Group. In his party, he also serves as Deputy Chairperson of his Parliamentary Group and the Foreign Affairs Spokesperson.

A member of the Austrian Delegation to the OSCE PA since 2013, he has been particularly active in the Assembly´s election observation missions, having participated in over 15 election monitoring missions. He is also an active member of the OSCE PA Migration Committee and Vice-Chair of the OSCE PA Silk Road Working Group. In addition to his work with the OSCE PA, he also serves as a member of the Austrian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

With a background in communication management, he is active in municipal politics in his hometown Aschach in Upper Austria. He is also active in humanitarian aid projects, foremost in Romania. Mr. Haider was born in 1967, is married and father of three children.

 Mandate:

• Encourage active participation by parliamentarians from Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), in the work of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to strengthen parliamentarism in the region;

• Liaise with and support the work of the OSCE field presences in the region, as well as relevant OSCE institutions, international and regional organizations and diplomatic missions;

• Encourage closer contacts between the parliaments in the region to promote greater intra-regional co-operation in all three OSCE dimensions;

• Report to the President of the Assembly on developments in the region, including opportunities for enhanced parliamentary dialogue and further inter-parliamentary co-operation among the Central Asian States.