VIENNA — Top-ranking EU diplomat Helga Schmid was appointed Secretary-General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Friday, according to the Foreign Ministry of Albania, which chairs the organization.

Foreign ministers from the 57 OSCE member countries appointed Schmid and three other officials by consensus in an online meeting, the Albanian ministry announced on Twitter.

A German diplomat, Schmid is the first woman to take the helm of the OSCE. With 57 participating States in North America, Europe and Asia, the OSCE is the world’s largest regional security organization.

Matteo Mecacci, an Italian pro-Tibet campaigner and former parliamentarian, will head the OSCE's democracy, human rights and election monitoring office in Warsaw.

Former Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov was selected as OSCE high commissioner for minorities. Maria Teresa Ribeiro, a secretary of state in the Portuguese Foreign Ministry, became OSCE media freedom representative. — WAM