Wolfgang Petritsch (born 26 August 1947) is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or interna ...

of Slovene ethnicity. Between 1999 and 2002 Petritsch served as the international

High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina The High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with the Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, were created in 1995 immediately after the signing of the Dayton Agreement which ended the 1992–1995 Bos ...

Early life and studies

Petritsch was born to a Carinthian Slovene family in

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

; he grew up in Glainach in a mixed Slovene/

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

-speaking environment. Besides his native tongues, he speaks English, French, and Serbo-Croatian. Petritsch studied history, German studies, political science and law at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hi ...

, where he obtained a PhD in 1972. He was also a

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. From 1977 to 1983 he was secretary and press officer to Federal Chancellor

Bruno Kreisky Bruno Kreisky (; 22 January 1911 – 29 July 1990) was an Austrian social democratic politician who served as Foreign Minister from 1959 to 1966 and as Chancellor from 1970 to 1983. Aged 72 at the end of his chancellorship, he was the oldest ...

, about whom he published a biography in 2011.

Diplomatic career

After one year at the Austrian Mission to the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, between 1984 and 1992 Petritsch served as Director of the Austrian Press and Information Service Agency in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and as

Minister Plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

to Austria's Permanent Mission to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. In 1992–1994 he served as Acting Head of the Department for Multilateral Economic Co-operation in the Austrian foreign ministry, as well as in the latter year as Head of Department for Information on European Affairs in the Federal Chancellery, supervising the Austrian Federal Government's information campaign on Austria's accession to the EU. Between 1995 and 1997 he headed the Department for International Relations of the

City of Vienna A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

.CV, ohr.int
/ref> From 1997 to 1999 he was Austrian Ambassador to the

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

. During the same period, between October 1998 and July 1999, he also served as the

European Union Special Representative The European Union Special Representatives (EUSR) are emissaries of the European Union with specific tasks abroad. While the EU's ambassadors are responsible for affairs with a single country, Special Representatives tackle specific issues, conf ...

for

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

. In such a vest he chaired the EU negotiating teams in February and March 1999 at the

peace talks in

Rambouillet Rambouillet (, , ) is a subprefecture of the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region of France. It is located beyond the outskirts of Paris, southwest of its centre. In 2018, the commune had a population of 26,933. Rambouillet lie ...

and

. Petritsch served between August 1999 and May 2002 as the international

(OHR). In this role, he was the final authority on the civilian implementation of the 1995

Dayton Peace Agreement The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords ( Croatian: ''Daytonski sporazum'', Serbian and Bosnian: ''Dejtonski mirovni sporazum'' / Дејтонски миро ...

. In 1999–2001 he was also chair of the Succession Commission for the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) in charge of distributing the public assets and liabilities among the successor states (Vienna Agreement, June 2001). In the 2002 Austrian elections, Petritsch ran with

Alfred Gusenbauer Alfred Gusenbauer (born 8 February 1960) is an Austrian politician who until 2008 spent his entire professional life as an employee of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) or as a parliamentary representative. He headed the SPÖ from 20 ...

SPÖ The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...

, as prospective Foreign Minister. Already before the ballot, he was appointed Austria's

Permanent Representative A permanent representative is a diplomat who is the head of a country’s diplomatic mission to an international organisation. Organizations that receive permanent representatives from their member states include the United Nations, the World Tr ...

to the

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

, on which post he later returned at the beginning of 2008. In September 2003, Petritsch, as Austria's Permanent Representative to the

United Nations Office at Geneva The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG, french: Office des Nations Unies à Genève) in Geneva, Switzerland, is one of the four major offices of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. The main UNOG ...

, to the WTO and to the Conference on Disarmament; he was appointed President of the

Ottawa Treaty The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction of 1997, known informally as the Ottawa Treaty, the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, or often simply the Mine ...

's First Review Conference, or ''Nairobi Summit on a Mine Free World'' taking place in Kenya in 2004. In 2004–2005 he chaired the

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE or UNECE) is one of the five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It was established in order to promote economic cooperation and ...

(UNECE) and was in charge of its reform. After leaving Geneva, Petritsch went to Paris as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Austria to the

until 2013. Since November 2021 Petritsch is part of the advisory board of the

Austrian Service Abroad The Austrian Service Abroad is a non-profit organization founded by Andreas Hörtnagl, Andreas Maislinger and Michael Prochazka in 1998, which sends young Austrians to work in partner institutions worldwide serving Holocaust commemoration in for ...

Other positions

From 2005 to 2014 Petritsch chaired the Center for European Integration Studies (CEIS) in

. Since 2007 he is President of the

Paul Lazarsfeld Paul Felix Lazarsfeld (February 13, 1901August 30, 1976) was an Austrian-American sociologist. The founder of Columbia University's Bureau of Applied Social Research, he exerted influence over the techniques and the organization of social rese ...

Gesellschaft,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

From 2008 to 2013 he served as chair of the Board of the

European Cultural Foundation The European Cultural Foundation (ECF) is a Netherlands-based independent cultural foundation. Its mission is to “make a tangible impact on civil society, citizen initiatives, public opinion and policy proposals to combat the fragmenting forces ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. Since 2009 he is President of the Herbert Kelman Institute,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. From 2010 to 2013 he was Member of the Senior Advisory Group on the International Dialogue on

Peacebuilding Peacebuilding is an activity that aims to resolve injustice in nonviolent ways and to transform the cultural and structural conditions that generate deadly or destructive conflict. It revolves around developing constructive personal, group, and ...

and Statebuilding (g7+), in

. Later he was appointed Joseph A. Schumpeter Fellow at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

. He still serves as the President of the Austrian

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...

Foundation.

Works

*1999: ''Kosovo: Mythen, Daten, Fakten = Kosova'', gemeinsam mit Karl Kaser und Robert Pichler, Wieser-Verlag, Klagenfurt 1999, *2008: ''Das Kreisky-Prinzip: im Mittelpunkt der Mensch'', gemeinsam mit Margaretha Kopeinig, Czernin-Verlag, Wien 2008, *2009: ''Zielpunkt Europa: von den Schluchten des Balkan und den Mühen der Ebene ; Aufsätze – Reden – Kommentare – Interviews – Dokumente, 2001–2009'', Wieser-Verlag, Klagenfurt 2009, *2010: ''Die europäische Chance: Neustart nach der Krise'', gemeinsam mit Margaretha Kopeinig, Verlag Kremayr & Scheriau, Wien 2010, *2010: ''Bruno Kreisky: die Biografie'', Residenz-Verlag, St. Pölten/Salzburg 2010, *2018: ''Epochenwechsel: unser digital-autoritäres Jahrhundert'', Christian Brandstätter Verlag, Wien 2018,

References

External links