The European Union refuses to recognize the presidency of Nicolás Maduro without electoral verification

European diplomacy chief Josep Borrell insists that the EU will only recognise the election results in Venezuela if verifiable evidence is presented.

The European Union has made it clear that it will not recognize Nicolás Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela until the corresponding electoral records are presented and verified. On Friday, Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, reiterated that the lack of clear and verifiable evidence remains an insurmountable obstacle to the legitimisation of the current Venezuelan government.

“We need to see results that can be corroborated. Until then, we cannot grant our recognition,” Borrell said at a press conference. This statement came shortly after Venezuela’s chavista-controlled Supreme Court ratified the results of the July 28 election, confirming Maduro as the winner, despite multiple allegations of fraud both domestically and internationally.

The Supreme Court has validated the results presented by the National Electoral Council (CNE), an organization that, according to various sources, has failed to present the electoral records publicly, a fundamental step for the transparency of the process. Faced with this situation, the international community, and in particular the European Union, has maintained a critical stance, requesting conclusive evidence to support the legitimacy of the electoral process.

Borrell stressed the importance of transparency in elections, stressing that “everyone must be able to verify the outcome of an election.” However, he regretted that to date no evidence has been shown to verify the announced results. “We have almost given up hope that this will happen,” he added.

In this context, the 27 EU member countries are in the midst of a debate to establish a common position on whether or not to recognise the election results in Venezuela. Although a final decision has not yet been taken, Borrell said that this issue will be one of the main points of discussion at the next Council of Foreign Ministers.

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Meanwhile, the Venezuelan opposition continues to denounce the process as fraudulent and has published online the minutes that, according to them, show that their candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, was the true winner of the elections. Faced with this situation, González Urrutia has requested an audit with international observers to clarify the results and resolve the doubts that tarnish the process.