Russian diplomat Voronkov named UN counterterrorism chief

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed veteran Russian diplomat Vladimir Voronkov to head the newly established United Nations Counterterrorism Office.

U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq announced the appointment Wednesday, one week after the General Assembly approved the creation of the office to bring together the U.N.’s disparate counterterrorism efforts.

Guterres told reporters Tuesday that “we have a problem of co-ordination of the 38 entities that within the U.N. deal with counterterrorism. So it makes full sense to have a dedicated office.”

Voronkov will have the rank of undersecretary-general. He’s spent more than 30 years in Russia’s foreign service working primarily on U.N. issues.

He has been Russia’s ambassador to U.N. organizations in Vienna since 2011, including the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime that deals with counterterrorism.