News and press releases

Western and Central Ukraine, including Kyiv, as well the southern part of the country, remained calm. The situation continued to be tense in Luhansk region and particularly tense in Donetsk region. The Special Monitoring Mission got confirmation that the military observers carrying out an inspection under the OSCE Vienna Document had been taken captive by forces of the self-proclaimed mayor of Sloviansk.

BELGRADE / TIRANA / PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 25 April 2014- Swiss Foreign Minister and Chairperson-in-Office, Didier Burkhalter, drew a positive conclusion from his two-day visit to the Western Balkans. In his meetings with high-level representatives of the authorities in Belgrade, Tirana and Prishtinë/Priština, he received strong backing for the engagement of the Swiss OSCE Chairmanship in the region...

Western and Central Ukraine, including Kiev, as well as many regions of the southern part of the country, were calm. In the regions neighbouring Donbas some tensions continued – they resulted either from the political polarization or fears of possible activities of armed opponents of the government. The situation continued to be tense in Luhansk and, in particular, Donetsk regions.

Based on monitoring teams’ observations, the situation in Luhansk remained stable; Donetsk remains characterized by heightened tensions; Kharkiv and Odessa remain relatively calm; and the rest of Ukraine is calm...

KYIV, 23 April 2014- Recent violent events in the Donetsk region are distressing and entirely inconsistent with the spirit of the Geneva statement agreed by the European Union, the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the United States, the head of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Ambassador Ertugral Apakan said today...

BERN, 23 April 2014 – Swiss Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Didier Burkhalter, will visit Belgrade, Tirana and Prishtinë/Priština from 24 to 25 April 2014 to meet with political leaders and discuss Switzerland's engagement in the region as OSCE Chair...

Western, Central Ukraine, including Kiev, as well as many regions of the southern part of the country remained calm. In the regions neighbouring the Luhansk and Donetsk districts some tensions continued – they resulted either from the political polarization or fears of possible activities of armed opponents of the government. The situation in the Luhansk and especially the Donetsk regions was tense with no significant signs of de-escalation...