Ambassador Petr Mareš

On 26 November 2024, Ambassador Petr Mareš was appointed as the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairpersonship – Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine. Prior to this, since 2021 he served as the Executive Director of International Visegrad Fund, inter-governmental organization created by Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovak Republic to promote co-operation of civil society initiatives.

Ambassador Mareš’ career within Czech Republic’s diplomatic corps included the posts of Consul General in Istanbul, Türkiye (2015-2019), Special Envoy for Eastern Partnership (2010-2015) and Ambassador to the Kingdom of Netherlands (2006-2010). Before that, in 2004-2006 he was a Foreign Policy Advisor to Minister of Defense, and in 2002-2004, he was Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Government.  As a Member of Parliament, he chaired Committee on Education and was a Vice-Chair of Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in 1998-2002.

His academic career involved work for Faculty of Social Sciences with Charles University, Czechoslovak Film Institute and Institute of Czechoslovak and World History of Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. Ambassador Mareš has a PHD in history, he authored a number of academic researches and popular publications on international relations.  

Mandate

The Special Representative of the Chairman-in-Office – Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine serves as the central point of contact for the OSCE in Ukraine and oversees the planning and co-ordination of OSCE projects. In this capacity, the Special Representative facilitates dialogue with key stakeholders and assumes the primary role in Ukraine as the OSCE's liaison with the Ukrainian authorities, the diplomatic corps, and other relevant international partners.