We show various properties of smooth projective D-affine varieties. In particular, any smooth projective D-affine variety is algebraically simply connected and its image under a fibration is D-affine. In characteristic zero such D-affine varieties are also uniruled. We also show that (apart from a few small characteristics) a smooth projective surface is D-affine if and only if it is isomorphic to either ${mathbb P}^2$ or ${mathbb P}^1times {mathbb P}^1$. In positive characteristic, a basic tool in the proof is a new generalization of Miyaokas generic semipositivity theorem.
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