Meet the Permanent Representative of Russia to the OSCE, Mr. Alexander Lukashevich

PeopleDiplomats ♦ Published: January 19, 2022; 20:43 ♦ (Vindobona)

The Head of Mission of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Vienna is Mr. Alexander Lukashevich. Learn more about his extensive career in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and what he thinks of the status quo of the OSCE.

Ambassador Alexander Lukashevich is the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) since 2015. / Picture: © Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the OSCE / MFA of Russia

Ambassador Alexander Lukashevich is a very experienced diplomat and already the third time assigned in Vienna.

Since he took up his first post in Vienna in 1996 as Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the OSCE, he has been in Vienna for a total of about 12 years. 

Since August 27, 2015, Ambassador Alexander Lukashevich has been the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

According to an online briefing of June 3, 2021, with the International Affairs journal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, about challenges the Russian diplomacy is facing in OSCE, he is rather critical about the development within the OSCE, after his many years at the OSCE.

Ambassador Lukashevich concludes at the end of his reflections and based on his experience that the Organization is experiencing a long-running crisis: "After nearly 25 years of dealing with issues related to pan-European cooperation, I am witnessing, to my profound regret, the decline of this organization. Both the OSCE proper and the Council of Europe have been losing strength. What we see is a race for the dominance of the purely “Atlantist” point of view."

He also criticized Helga Schmidt, the new Secretary General, for taking only the Western view of Kyiv as regards the situation in the south-east of Ukraine, the scene of a long-running conflict between the self-declared Donetsk and Lugansk republics and Kyiv. Thus, although she visited the Donbass, she only visited the territories which are currently under the control of Kyiv, but did not bother to visit "the regions in the south-east of Ukraine, whereas all the issues of discord and political tension are concentrated where civilian infrastructure facilities - houses, schools, hospitals - come under fire". The full article can be downloaded here.

Regarding last week's three Ukraine talks, Monday in Geneva between the U.S. and Russia, Wednesday in Brussels between NATO and Russia (NATO Russia Council), and finally Thursday in Vienna between 57 nations including all participants (OSCE), Russia's representative to the OSCE said, that this week’s discussions had been "really disappointing," with the U.S., NATO and other OSCE countries not providing the "very substantial, in-depth" response to Russia’s proposals that Moscow had expected.

Curriculum Vitae:
Date of Birth: January 27, 1959 in Moscow
Education:
1981
Graduated from the Moscow Institute for International Relations
1995
Graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of the MFA of Russia
Career History:
1981 Joined the Foreign Ministry of the USSR
1981 - 89
Translator, Attaché, Third Secretary, Embassy of the USSR in Kabul (Afganistan)
1989 - 91 Third Secretary, Middle East Section, USSR Foreign Ministry
1991 - 94 Vice-Consul, Consul General, Consulate General of the USSR/ Russian Federation in Mazari-Sharif (Afganistan)
1995 - 96 First Secretary, Councellor, European cooperation Department of the MFA of Russia
1996 - 2000 Counsellor, Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the OSCE in Vienna (Austria)
2000 - 2003 Senior Counsellor, Head of Section, European cooperation Department of the MFA of Russia
2003 - 2008 Senior Counsellor, Embassy of the Russian Federation in Washington (USA)
2008 - 2010 Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the OSCE in Vienna (Austria)
2010 - 2015 Spokesman, Director of Information and Press Department, MFA of Russia
Since Aug. 27, 2015 Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the OSCE
Diplomatic Rank: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (2018)
Languages: English, Persian, French
Family: Married, two daughters

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the OSCE

International Affairs, a journal of Russia’s Foreign Ministry