Erie County Native Darrell Owens Reflects on Role as Ambassador, International Diplomat  | Washington D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An Erie County native is representing the United States on the international stage, with the rank of ambassador. 

Darrell Owens was officially sworn in back in July as America’s representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). 

In his first interview as ambassador, Owens spoke from Austria with Erie News Now Washington correspondent Brendan Scanland about life in Vienna, his new role, and what he misses most about Erie County. 

From Waterford, Pennsylvania, to Vienna, Austria- and several stops in between- Ambassador Darrell Owens said he’s getting acclimated to his new role in Europe, while working hard to deliver on the mandate from Washington. 

“The mandate from Washington and for the president, secretary when I came out here was ‘get the organization back to work again. Figure out how to make it work. If we’re going to be involved in this organization, we’re going to be there to do the work and do a good job,’” Amb. Owens said.

Propelled by an impressive resume that includes years of military service, positions at the Department of Veterans Affairs and on Capitol Hill, Ambassador Owens is leaning on his experience to help the 57-member organization live up to its potential. 

“My whole career so far has been built on relationships. And I think this is a great tool to be able to bring the OSCE, to be able to work with all 57 participating states, including Russia, including Belarus,” he said. “Because you’ve got to sit down with them, you’ve got to start that dialog, you’ve got to start someplace to get to the mission and the goal at hand.” 

Similar to the Trump administration’s efforts with NATO, Amb. Owens is working to get other OSCE members to boost their dollar contributions to the organization. 

“That’s something we’re working very hard to change right now, especially when about 21 other member states combine for less than 1% of our budget. So the U.S. is really carrying the weight, along with four or five other nations, really carrying the weight of the entire organization on the bill-paying side,” said Owens. 

OSCE’s mission dates back to the 1975 Helsinki Accords. 

“Really, it was about trying to figure out how to connect the United States and the Soviet Union together through a regional European security architecture. It has evolved since then. The mission has changed, especially with the second invasion of Ukraine in 2022, this organization itself has been right at the forefront, from our special monitoring mission in Ukraine to now our efforts to try to look at how we can be ready post-conflict day one,” said Owens.

Outside of the United Nations, OSCE is the only organization where both Russia and Ukraine are members. 

“Right now, this is a completely consensus-run organization. So having them agree on things, including the peace process going forward and what we can do afterwards to win the peace is incredibly important,” Owens said.

Amb. Owens said he remains focused on improving communication, cooperation and diplomacy within OSCE. 

“Lowering the temperature in the room, talking to each other as diplomats and working through problems in an ordinary way, just like we would back in Erie between neighbors,” he said. “If you’ve got an issue, you’ve got to be able to talk to everybody. That’s harder to do when you have two member states that are at war with each other. It’s nothing that can’t be overcome.”