Vladimir Valdes Garcia was appointed as the Mission’s Head of the Democratization Department in November 2021, after having served as Senior Legal Adviser in the Mission’s Rule of Law and Human Rights Department (2018-2021). He is seconded by the German Foreign Office. Vladimir has 15 years legal working experience in the field of Rule of Law, Human Rights, and Transitional Justice. Before joining the OSCE, he worked in the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, the Kosovo Property Agency through the United Nations Development Programme, and the German Foreign Office. Previously, he worked as Attorney-at-Law in international law firms in Frankfurt a. M./Germany, and in the German Institute for Human Rights in Berlin/Germany. Vladimir is a Member of the Frankfurt a. M. Bar Association since 2008. He holds the First and Second State Examination in Law (equivalent to the Bar Exam) from the State Government of Hesse in Germany. In addition, he holds a Master of Laws (LL.M) Degree in Human Rights Law from the University of Cape Town/South Africa.
He further studied at the Johann W. Goethe University in Frankfurt a, M./Germany and the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá/Colombia. Vladimir is fluent in German, Spanish, and English. He also has working knowledge in French and Italian, as well as intermediate knowledge in Serbian.