Permanent Staff

The Deputy Secretary General serves as member of the senior management team, providing advice and support to the Secretary General and Assembly leadership, working in close co-operation with and overseeing the work of the Executive Office and Administration, Finance and Human Resources. In addition, Gustavo Pallares:

• Serves as Finance Officer under Rule 40 - 3 of the OSCE PA Rules of Procedure;


• Provides leadership to the administration of the International Secretariat;


• Serves as Director for the General Committee for Political Affairs and Security;


• Serves as Advisor for the Sub-Committee on Rules of Procedure and Working Practices;


• Serves as Programme Co-ordinator for gender issues and Mediterranean affairs, among other responsibilities.

Pallares (Spain) was appointed unanimously by the Standing Committee in 2007, having worked in the International Secretariat since February 2001. As Presidential Advisor from 2001 to 2007, he was responsible for the overall co-ordination of the activities of the Assembly's Presidents. Before joining the International Secretariat, Pallares worked for several years in the Parliament of Spain as senior counsellor to the Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Pallares has also worked for the Secretariat of the European Parliament.

Pallares holds degrees in political science and international relations (University of Madrid and George Washington University) and a Master’s degree in European studies (University of Louvain). He is a distinguished graduate of the Diplomatic School of the Spanish Foreign Ministry in Madrid, where his thesis explored the institutionalisation process of the CSCE/OSCE.

Working languages: Spanish, English, French and Danish.

Under overall supervision of the Head of the Vienna Office and Chief of Administration and Finance, the Programme and Administrative Officer assists the Special Representative and performs duties related to administration and finance in the Vienna Office.

Additionally, Sherif Abdili:

• Serves as Deputy Head of the Vienna Office;


• Serves as a Programme Coordinator for South East Europe,


• Assists the Special Representative with political analyses and advice related to South East Europe,


• Deals with administrative and finance issues.  

Sherif Abdili joined the International Secretariat in January 2022, prior to that he has been with the OSCE Mission to Serbia, in it's Office in south Serbia for over 20 years .

He speaks Albanian, Serbian, English and some German.

Under the overall supervision of the Secretary General, the Head of Elections, provides advice and support to the Secretary General including co-ordinating and directing the work of election observation activities. In addition, Andreas Baker:

• Serves as Director for the General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions;


• Serves as Programme Co-ordinator for the Sub-Committee on Rules of Procedure and Working Practices and Civil Society Engagement

Baker (Canada and Denmark) has previously served the Assembly as Chief of the Executive Office, Director of Elections, as Presidential Advisor under several presidents and as Press Officer, in addition to being a Senior Advisor to numerous election observation missions deployed by the OSCE PA. He has also worked in the Parliament of Canada and as a political affairs officer for the United Nations in Geneva.

He has a Bachelor’s degree from the London School of Economics, a Master’s in International Studies from Uppsala University, and a Master's in Business Administration from Copenhagen Business School.

Working languages: English, French and Danish.

The Senior Advisor provides advice and support, including to the Secretary General and other members of the International Secretariat, on a range of programmatic and parliamentary diplomacy issues. In particular, the Senior Advisor:

• Provides advice on matters pertaining to transnational security threats, migration-related challenges and economic and environmental affairs.


• Serves as Director for Economic and Environmental Security, working closely with OSCE’s Economic and Environmental Committee and the Co-ordinator for Economic and Environmental Activities to build synergy with the efforts of the OSCE PA General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment.


• Serves as Programme Co-ordinator for Counter-Terrorism Affairs, Fighting Corruption and the Research Assistants’ programme in Vienna;


• Regularly liaises with the OSCE Secretariat, delegations of the OSCE participating States and relevant external partners to ensure timely exchange of information and planning of relevant initiatives.

Bonabello (Italy) joined the OSCE PA Liaison Office in Vienna in May 2017. Prior to joining the PA, he served as Senior Co-ordination Advisor in the Office of the OSCE Special Representative for Combating Human Trafficking, where he advanced OSCE efforts in the context of conflicts, mixed-migration flows and terrorism.

He has also served as Policy and Planning Officer of the OSCE Secretary General, OSCE Legal Advisor in Serbia, as Court Officer of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and as Human Rights Officer of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Marco holds a Master’s degree in Law from the Rome State University and specialized in diplomatic affairs at the Italian Society for International Organizations.

Working languages: English, Italian and French

Under the overall leadership of the Secretary General, the Head of the OSCE PA Vienna Office ensures the management of the Vienna Office.

The Head of Office also acts as Deputy Special Representative and in this capacity maintains diplomatic as well as operational contacts, co-operation and co-ordination with the Permanent Representatives of the OSCE Participating States and all decision making bodies of the OSCE.

In addition, Daria Boyarskaya:

• Assists the OSCE PA Secretary General in the management of the International Secretariat
  as a member of the OSCE PA IS Senior management;


• Assists OSCE PA regional Special Representatives for Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia as well as the respective regional Focal Points at the International Secretariat;


• Assists with preparations and undertaking of official visits by OSCE PA officials and supports election observation missions;


• Maintains the Russian version of the International Secretariat’s website;


• Edits and reviews translations generated by the International Secretariat or externally to ensure proper quality and reflection of content;


• Upon coordination with the Secretary General provides interpretation at some meetings and conferences.

Boyarskaya (Russian Federation) joined the Vienna Liaison Office in February 2021. Prior to that, she worked as Counsellor at the North America Desk of the Foreign Ministry of Russia. She has also worked as an interpreter, revisor and translator at a number of OSCE PA Annual Sessions and OSCE-related events.

Boyarskaya has over a decade of experience in diplomatic service as a professional translator and interpreter providing translation for the highest level of the Russian Government at numerous bilateral and multilateral events. She holds degrees from Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation at the Herzen State University and certificate from the Diplomatic Academy of the Foreign Ministry of Russia. She is also included in the Global Language Roster of the UN as Verbatim Service Translator.

Working languages: Russian, English, German.

Under the overall supervision of the Deputy Secretary General, the Head of Documents Services is responsible for managing and processing Assembly documents, including translations, in particular in preparation for major Assembly meetings. In addition, Dana Bjerregaard:

• Supports the Research Assistants’ Programme and Sub-Committee on Rules of Procedure and Working Practices;


• Provides overall support to the smooth running and administration of the International Secretariat’s work, among other responsibilities.

Bjerregaard (United States) joined the International Secretariat in 2005 as Assistant to the Secretary General. Prior to joining the International Secretariat, she worked for various law firms in the United States.

Working languages: English and Danish.

Under the overall supervision of the Secretary General, the Senior Advisor provides advice and support to a range of the Assembly’s programmatic activities. In addition, Farimah Daftary:

• Serves as Programme Co-ordinator for Migration Issues, for Central Asian affairs, as well as Research Assistants’ Programme


• Serves as focal point for minority issues;


• Supports the work in the Document Services Team;


• Supports the work in the General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions.

Daftary (France) joined the International Secretariat in October 2013, first serving as Office Assistant. She specializes in minority issues and conflict resolution and has previously worked for the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI), the Open Society Institute and the OSCE Secretariat in Prague.

She holds a Master’s degree in international affairs from SIPA at Columbia University and a Master's of research in political science from the London School of Economics.

Working languages: English, French, Danish, Russian and German.

Under the direct supervision of the Head of Communication and Press, and the overall supervision of the Secretary General, the Communications and Press Officer supports the International Secretariat's communications and works to raise the profile of Assembly activities. In addition, Anna Di Domenico:

• Serves as Deputy to the Head of Communications and Press;


• Manages and co-ordinates the OSCE PA Events App and website;


• Supports the work in a range of activities, including related to disinformation and propaganda, election observation and the Mediterranean;


• Provides general and administrative support to the office of the Secretary General

Di Domenico (Italy) joined the International Secretariat in February 2016, having previously served as a Research Assistant. Prior to joining the International Secretariat, she worked for NATO, the European External Action Service, an EU regional office, a number of non-governmental organizations and in the private sector.

Di Domenico holds a Bachelor’s degree in diplomacy and a Master’s degree in politics and international relations from the University of Naples "l’Orientale".

Working languages: Italian, German, English, French.

Hana Đogović (Bosnia and Herzegovina) joined the International Secretariat of the OSCE PA as a Programme Officer in January 2020. She works mainly on the counter-terrorism portfolio, thus supporting the programmatic and policy work of the Ad Hoc Committee on Countering Terrorism (CCT).

Her tasks include, in particular:

• conducting targeted analysis and research on topics relevant for the activities of the CCT and OSCE PA and advising senior staff accordingly;


• assisting in coordinated policy planning and keeping the OSCE PA abreast of major terrorism- related security developments in the OSCE region;


• supporting the organization of activities of the CCT and OSCE PA in general (such as conferences, field visits, election observations, statuary meetings, etc.);


• drafting and reviewing a variety of documents, such as briefing reports, speeches, statements, talking points, and background papers in the field of counterterrorism;


• attending official meetings of the CCT, OSCE PA, OSCE decision-making bodies and relevant external partners and writing succinct reports.

Before joining the OSCE PA, Hana worked as Human Rights Officer within the Department of Human Rights and Communities in OSCE Mission in Kosovo. She also completed a one-year OSCE Junior Professional Officer (JPO) programme. In addition, she worked as a trainee with major international organizations, such as UNDP and World Bank Group, as well as with diplomatic missions/delegations of Australia, Malta and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the international organizations in Vienna.

She holds a Master’s degree in Advanced International Studies from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna and a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of Sarajevo.

She speaks Bosnian, English, French and some German.

Anastasiya Griadasova (Kyrgyzstan) joined the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s office in Copenhagen as a Research Assistant in January 2020.

She was offered a position of Assistant to the Head of the Vienna Office in October 2022.

In January 2021 she joined the OSCE PA Vienna Liaison Office.

She was offered a position of a Junior Professional Officer in September 2021.

Anastasiya holds a bachelor’s degree in European Studies from the American University of Central Asia and a master’s degree in Politics and Security of Central Asia from the OSCE Academy in Bishkek. Anastasiya is also an alumna of 2019 Intensive Programme in European Law and Economics of Riga Graduate School of Law.

Prior to joining the OSCE PA Secretariat, Anastasiya worked as Project Officer in the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Working languages: Russian, English, French and some Kyrgyz.