PARIS, January 18. /TASS/. Unlike Russia, the European Union has "no capacity" to intervene into the events that are taking place in Kazakhstan, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrel told the European Parliament’s commission on foreign affairs.
"Kazakhstan is a part of a military alliance [the Collective Security Treaty Organization], in which we are not, so the Kazakhstan government asked for this alliance to implement their provisions," he said. "The European Union has no capacity to intervene into events in Kazakhstan, Russia has, because it is part of that military alliance."
"We can have different approaches to what is happening there, but don’t call for the European Union to intervene in Kazakhstan, please, be serious," the EU top diplomat added.
Protests broke out in various Kazakh cities on January 2, escalating into mass riots and attacks against police and military personnel, with government buildings ransacked across several cities a few days later. Subsequently, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev turned to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) requesting assistance, and as a result, peacekeepers were deployed to Kazakhstan. Law and order, Kazakh authorities affirm, was restored to all of the country’s regions by the morning of January 7. According to the General Prosecutor's Office, more than 4,500 people were injured in the insurrection, and the bodies of 225 of those killed were taken to morgues.