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The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, warned on Monday that Venezuela could soon be plunged into a “serious crisis” if President Nicolas Maduro persists with his claim that he won the July 28 national election but fails to provide evidence by publishing all voter rolls.
“If Maduro insists that he has won and is unwilling to understand that there is no assumption of results without verification for the international community, Venezuela could fall into a serious crisis – something we are all trying to prevent,” Borrell said on the sidelines of a summer course at Santander.
The announcement comes three weeks after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was declared re-elected in what the United States and other Western countries condemned as electoral fraud.
Borrell said Maduro’s “refusal to produce the list” was a “clear” negative signal. “He should do it now; he has time,” the EU foreign policy chief said.
“If there is Unable to verify results“The results are unacceptable,” he added.
Western countries have not yet taken any action against Maduro. The European Union is unlikely to take action, but the issue may be discussed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels next week.
Borrell also commented on Maduro’s harsh criticism of him earlier this month, in which he claimed the European foreign affairs chief was a “disgrace” to the EU and the world.
Maduro previously said: “Mr. Borrell is a disgrace. He dragged Ukraine into the war and now washes his hands of it; he remains silent in the face of the massacre in Gaza.”
“I know that Maduro said very kind words to me. It’s not the first time, but I have to insist on the same thing. If the results cannot be verified, they cannot be accepted, and at the moment, these results cannot be verified,” Borrell insisted.
He also pointed out that Venezuela be opposed to The government has managed to collect “more than 80 percent” of the voter roll, which is “completely different” from what Maduro claimed.
The EU’s top diplomat called it a “great irony” that Maduro had appealed to Venezuela’s Supreme Court to “defend himself”.
“I don’t know what it (the Supreme Court) will decide, because it is not its function to calculate election results,” Borrelli warned.
He urged people Wait and see What will happen in the coming days, recalling that more than 2,000 people have been arrested so far and that “repression is intensifying,” he expressed confidence that the international community will continue to put pressure on the Maduro regime.
(Editing by Alexandra Brzozovsky/ Rajneesh Singh)
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