Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan said Monday it is waiting for Bishkek to “clarify” comment of Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev given in the interview with Euronews about the country’s joining the Eurasian Economic Union.

On February 17, Atambayev during his trip to Brussels talked to Euronews correspondent Natasha Richardson. Richardson asked about Kyrgyzstan’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union and if the Union reflected the interests of Russia in the first place.

Almazbek Atambayev responded: “If we didn’t join the Eurasian Economic Union, we’d simply face blockade. In 2010, when Kazakhstan closed its doors for us for 1.5 months, we even had human casualties. This happened because blockade is a bad thing. Were we given an alternative, what would we join? Afghanistan, or what? We are ready to join the European Union even today. I suggested it, but I got an open answer: we do not have common borders. Then what are you offering to us? We have 6 million people. Should we isolate ourselves and live in the jungle, or what? We need to develop, we need a market.”

Press service of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said: “We paid attention to this statement of the President of Kyrgyzstan and right now we’re waiting for clarifications from the Kyrgyz side.”

April 2010 Revolution in Kyrgyzstan began with the ousting of Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev in Bishkek. It was followed by increased ethnic tension involving Kyrgyz people and Uzbeks in the south of the country, which escalated in June 2010.  Several hundreds of people died, about 400,000 people were internally displaced.