ROME, January 10. /TASS/: The European Union should "exchange opinions closely" on the situation in Kazakhstan, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in Rome on Monday, quoted by Germany’s Phoenix TV channel.
"Definitely, it is not in the interests of Europe to see the countries of Central Asia getting unilaterally dependent either on Russia or on China," the diplomat said. According to the top diplomat, the rapid escalation of tension in Kazakhstan had "shocked everybody".
Protests erupted in several Kazakh cities on January 2, escalating into mass riots with government buildings getting ransacked in several cities a few days later. The ensuing violence left scores of people injured, with fatalities also being reported. Subsequently, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev turned to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) requesting assistance from the Russia-led bloc. As a result, peacekeepers have already been deployed to Kazakhstan. Law and order, Kazakh authorities affirm, was restored to all of the country’s regions by the morning of January 7.
