The European Union on Friday condemned the situation in Venezuela following the inauguration of President Nicolás Maduro for a third term in office.
In the communiqué sent by the High Representative for Foreign Policy, Kaja Kallas, the EU points out that the results announced "have not yet been verified and cannot be recognised as representative of the will of the people". Opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González have accused the government on electoral fraud.
Kallas notes that "Maduro lacks the legitimacy of a democratically elected president". She also regrets that the country's authorities "have not respected" the will of the Venezuelan people.
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, was even tougher in her response, arguing that "Maduro should be brought to justice, not sworn in illegitimately". The European Parliament is also the only European institution to officially recognise Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González as the country's elected president.
He and María Corina Machado both received the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought last December.
The EU has shown its solidarity with the Venezuelan people in the face of the "hardening of repression and harassment against 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 has also sanctioned 15 individuals "responsible for undermining democracy, the rule of law or human rights in Venezuela". The EU recalls that "no measures have been taken that could harm the people or the economy of Venezuela".
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