Annan names senior Swiss diplomat as new head of UN mission in Georgia

The United Nations today announced the appointment of a senior diplomat from Switzerland as Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative for Georgia and the head of the UN mission in the country.

A statement released at UN Headquarters in New York said that Heidi Tagliavini, currently Switzerland's Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, will succeed Dieter Boden, who served as Special Representative for two and a half years.

In announcing the decision, the Secretary-General expressed his deep appreciation for Mr. Boden's "untiring efforts to advance the Georgian-Abkhaz peace process and for his dynamic leadership of the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG)."

Ms. Tagliavini has extensive diplomatic experience and first-hand knowledge of the mission and the region. During 1998 and 1999, she served as Deputy Head of UNOMIG and, later, as Personal Representative of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Chairperson-in-Office for the Caucasus.

Ms. Tagliavini was also Minister and Deputy Head of Mission of the Swiss Embassy in Moscow in 1996, and head of Human Rights and Humanitarian Policy in the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs in 1999. Her language skills cover German, French, Russian, English, Italian, Spanish and Dutch.