EU says Nicolas Maduro’s disputed victory cannot be recognised

The opposition is crying fraud and claiming victory for its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, in the presidential election in which the incumbent Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner.

Pending more transparency on the disputed election of Nicolas Maduro, the 27 do not recognize the disputed results of the presidential election in Venezuela. “Despite its commitment to do so, the National Electoral Council of Venezuela (CNE) has still not published the official minutes of the polling stations,” the EU Council announced in a statement on Sunday 4 August. “In the absence of evidence to support them, the results published on August 2 by the CNE cannot be recognized” he adds.

Claiming to be the victim of a computer hack, the CNE has still not given the details of the vote by office. On Friday, the organization ratified the victory of Nicolas Maduro with 52% of the votes against 43% for Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia at the end of the July 28 election. However, according to the minutes of each office, published by the opposition, it was the latter who won the election with 67% of the votes.

Unlike the United States and several other countries, the EU has refrained from recognising the victory of opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.“Copies of electoral records published by the opposition and reviewed by several independent organizations indicate that Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia appears to be the winner of the presidential election with a substantial majority.” The EU text merely demands “a new independent verification of the electoral registers, if possible by an entity of international reputation.”

The unrest that followed the proclamation of the outgoing president’s victory left 13 dead and more than 2,000 people arrested, Nicolas Maduro said. Thus, the EU also calls on the Venezuelan government “to end arbitrary arrests, repression and violent rhetoric against members of the opposition and civil society, and to release all political prisoners.”

In a statement released by the Italian government on Saturday, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Portugal expressed their “strong concern” facing the situation in Venezuela. The seven European countries were thanked on Sunday by the leader of the opposition, Maria Corina Machado. On X, she congratulated them for their “commitment to democracy”.