The European Union firmly condemned the decision by the Venezuelan authorities to declare the Ambassador of Spain in Caracas as persona non grata. The EU expressed full solidarity with Spain and recalled that its decisions in the area of foreign policy were taken by unanimity. Brussels called for their decision to be reversed as it had a negative effect on relations between the EU and Venezuela.
EU authorities added that as regards the recent decision to organize presidential elections, the EU deeply regretted that it had been taken without appropriate national dialogue. Elections should be based on a viable electoral calendar, agreed in the context of national discourse including all relevant actors and political parties, all of whom should assume their responsibilities. Brussels reminded that the respect for equal and fair participation, including the lift of bans on political opponents as well as balanced composition of the National Electoral Council and the existence of sufficient guarantees with independent international observation were the only ways to rebuild confidence of the Venezuelan people in the electoral process.
In this context, the EU also condemned the Venezuelan Supreme Court’s decision to exclude the MUD (the Democratic Unity Roundtable) from the presidential elections, which is another serious breach to the principle of fair elections. The MUD is a catch-all coalition of Venezuelan political parties created in January 2008 to unify the opposition to President Hugo Chávez’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela in the 2010 parliamentary election.
Brussels called for the need for a negotiated and peaceful solution to the crisis in Venezuela based on credible elections, the recognition and respect of the role and independence of all democratically elected institutions and the release of political prisoners. The EU keeps on monitoring the situation in the country by taking appropriate measures to foster democratic solutions that can bring about political stability, and address he urgent needs of its population.
