Thomas Mayr-Harting
Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting took up his post as Head of the EU Delegation to the UN in New York on 16 October 2011.
He previously served from December 2008 as the Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations in New York. From 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2010 he represented Austria on the UN Security Council. He was President of the Security Council for the month of November 2009. In his former capacity as the Austrian Ambassador to the UN, he also served as Vice-President of the 66th General Assembly.
Between 2003 and 2008, Mr. Mayr-Harting served as Political Director (Director General for Political Affairs) of the Foreign Ministry of Austria. From 1999 to 2003 he was the Austrian Ambassador to Belgium and Head of the Austrian Mission to NATO. Before his departure for New York, Mr. Mayr-Harting also chaired the supervisory board of the Austrian Development Agency.
Mr. Mayr-Harting joined the Austrian diplomatic service in 1979. In the course of his career he served, inter alia, with the Austrian Mission to the European Communities in Brussels (1982-1986), the Austrian Embassy in Moscow (1986-1990), the Private Office of the Austrian Foreign Minister (1991-1995) and as Deputy Political Director and Director for Security Policy and Policy Planning (1995-1999). From 2002 to 2004, Mr. Mayr-Harting also acted as Special Representative of the Austrian Foreign Minister for the Western Balkans.
Mr. Mayr-Harting received his law degree at the University of Vienna in 1977. From 1977 to 1978, he studied European law at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. In 1978, Mr. Mayr-Harting was also awarded the Diploma of The Hague Academy of International Law.
Mr. Mayr-Harting was born in 1954, is married and has three children.