News and press releases

Bern, July 17, 2014- Didier Burkhalter, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss Foreign Minister, expressed his sincere condolences to the families of the many victims of the shocking crash of the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukrainian territory. He said that the circumstances which led to this tragedy had to be investigated in a thorough and impartial manner and commended Ukraine’s readiness to involve international expertise.

The Trilateral Contact Group of senior representatives of Ukraine, the Russian Federation and the OSCE convened in Kiev on July 17, 2014.

Tensions remained in parts of Donbas. Other areas of Ukraine remained calm. Protesters in front of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Lviv demanded the release of a Ukrainian military pilot, who was abducted by armed groups operating in Donbas and is now reportedly in custody in Russia...

Tensions remained in parts of Donbas. The SMM began facilitating an exchange between the Ukrainian army and armed supporters of the so-called ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’ (LPR) to create two local evacuation corridors for wounded Ukrainian soldiers and ‘LPR’ combatants. The situation was calm elsewhere across the country. There was a false bomb alert in Kyiv in the office of a popular TV channel...

The Trilateral Contact Group of senior representatives of Ukraine, the Russian Federation and the OSCE met in Kiev on July 15, 2014.

Tension remained in parts of Donbas. The situation was calm elsewhere across the country. In Kharkiv, on the night of 12-13 July, the monument of independence on the Constitution Square was vandalized with red paint by unknown perpetrators, and later during the day cleaned up by city employees. Police officers were working on site in the morning. This is the fourth incident of this kind in Kharkiv.

VIENNA, 15 July 2014 – Addressing crises and conflicts in the OSCE region, advancing regional co-operation with a special focus on Western Balkans, stepping up work on youth and security and promoting water governance are among the priorities of the incoming Serbian Chairmanship in 2015, First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Serbia Ivica Dačić told OSCE participating States today...