[1] Pfanzelter successfully led Austria's campaign for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the period 2009–2010.

[3][4] Previously, from 1983 to 1989, Pfanzelter had served as Austria's Ambassador to Senegal, Gambia, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Guinea and Mauritania.

He then became the Ambassador to Syria for a four-year term, ending in 1993, when he became the Head of the Department for International Organizations of the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

[citation needed] From 2010 to 2012, he served as Secretary-General of the Central European Initiative in Trieste.

[5] Pfanzelter is member of the board of the Foreign Policy and United Nations Association of Austria (UNA-AUSTRIA).