The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said he had been in contact with the Kazakh foreign minister on Friday 7 January. “I have indicated that the EU is ready to support de-escalation and stability”, he wrote on Twitter.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, repeated the same words in Paris at a press conference, without giving further details on the nature of potential European support.
The spokesperson for the European External Action Service (EEAS) had called for citizens’ rights to be respected in a statement on 5 January (see EUROPE 12862/12). Josep Borrell and Ursula von der Leyen also highlighted this, without explicitly calling on the Kazakhstan authorities to curb the repression.
Furthermore, in his tweet of 6 January, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy referred to the Russian military intervention in Kazakhstan: “The external military assistance reminds us of situations to be avoided”. Russia sent peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan on 6 January. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)