News and press releases

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...

KYIV, 22 April 2014 – OSCE Chief Monitor in Ukraine Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan today called for the immediate release of the head of police of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region, who was abducted by armed people yesterday night...

Bern, April 22, 2014- Swiss Foreign Minister and Chairperson-in-Office, Didier Burkhalter, commended first steps undertaken by the Ukrainian authorities to initiate the implementation of measures agreed upon in the Joint Statement on Ukraine of April 17, 2014.

KYIV, Ukraine, 19 April, 2014 –Acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia and the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM), Amb. Ertugrul Apakan, met today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the participants of the 17 April Geneva meeting – the European Union, the Russian Federation and the United States.

Bern, April 17, 2014- Swiss Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Didier Burkhalter welcomed the outcome of the discussions between the Foreign Ministers of Ukraine, the United States and the Russian Federation as well as the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who met today in Geneva.

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) assessed the security situation in the eastern Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk and the town of Sloviansk as tense and evolving, based on its observations on Sunday, 13 April 2014.

BERN, 13 April 2014 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter today called upon all sides to move the situation away from confrontation and to act responsibly in order to reduce tensions and avoid further violence in eastern Ukraine.

BERN, 11 April 2014- Didier Burkhalter, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss Foreign Minister, will travel to Ukraine and meet the Special Monitoring Mission on Monday, 14 April...