The EU’s high representative for foreign policy and security, Kaja Callas, said that the authorities in the country “did not respect” the will of the Venezuelan people.
ADVERTISEMENTOn Friday, the European Union condemned the situation in Venezuela following the inauguration of President Nicolás Maduro for a third term.
In a statement sent by the high representative for foreign policy, Kaja Kallas, the EU points out that the published results “have not yet been verified and cannot be recognized as representative of the will of the people”. Opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González accused the government of electoral fraud.
Kallas notes that “Maduro lacks the legitimacy of a democratically elected president.” She also regrets that the country’s authorities “did not respect” the will of the Venezuelan people.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola was even harsher in her response, arguing that “Maduro should be brought to justice, not sworn in illegitimately.” The European Parliament is also the only European institution that has officially recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez as elected president of the country.
Both he and María Corina Machado won Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought last December.
More Venezuelans sanctioned
The EU showed its solidarity with the people of Venezuela in the face of “intensification of repression and harassment of the opposition and civil society and their families”. The bloc therefore calls on the authorities to “put an end to all unjust and arbitrary detentions” and to “unconditionally release all political prisoners”.
The council also sanctioned 15 individuals “responsible for undermining democracy, the rule of law or human rights in Venezuela.” The EU reminds that “no measures have been taken that could harm the people or the economy of Venezuela.”
