Germany: citizens should leave east, south Ukraine

Associated Press
Lebanese Foreign Minister Gibran Bassil, left, poses with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier for photos after their joint news conference at the Foreign Ministry in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

BERLIN (AP) — Germany is advising its citizens to leave Ukraine's troubled east and south, citing increasing tension in the region and risks of being detained by anti-government forces.

The Foreign Ministry made the recommendation in updated travel advice on its website Tuesday. It said recent developments suggest that "media representatives face a particular danger of being held or arrested by separatist forces."

Four Germans were among a team of European military observers that were held for more than a week by insurgents in the separatist stronghold of Slovyansk until their release on Saturday.

Germany's foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has called for all sides in the conflict to hold a second diplomatic conference in Geneva. He has urged all to agree to conduct presidential elections to give Ukraine's new leadership "democratic legitimacy."