EU ready to support stabilization in Kazakhstan

BRUSSELS

The EU foreign policy chief said on Friday that the bloc was ready to support de-escalation and stabilization in Kazakhstan amid unrest across the country.

In a phone call with Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi, Josep Borrell “expressed EU’s readiness to support de-escalation and stabilization,” the EU's top diplomat wrote on Twitter.

Borrell also explained in his tweet that the EU was following closely the situation in Kazakhstan and underlined that human rights and the security of civilians should be guaranteed.

Protests against the increase of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices have grown into massive riots across Kazakhstan over the past week.

According to the Kazakh Interior Ministry, at least 18 security officers and 26 protesters have lost their lives during the ongoing violence.

In response, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared a state of emergency in the commercial capital Almaty and the oil-rich Mangystau region from where the protests spread to the rest of the country.

He said he has given security services orders to shoot to kill those he called “terrorists,” accusing them of continued violence.

He also approved the resignation of the government and requested support from the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Eurasian alliance of former Soviet states.