EU considers “political repression” unacceptable / Photo: Reference
The European Union (EU) reiterated on Friday, two days before the presidential elections in Venezuela, that “continued arbitrary detentions and intimidation of the opposition and members of civil society remain a matter of great concern.”
European External Action Service spokeswoman Nabila Massrali told EFE that “political repression and calls for violence are unacceptable and have no place in an electoral process.”
He added that “only a peaceful and democratic solution led by Venezuelans will restore political stability, economic growth and social well-being” and noted that the EU “remains committed to supporting all efforts towards peaceful, competitive and transparent elections.”
Venezuela is holding presidential elections this Sunday, with the leading candidates being President Nicolás Maduro and former ambassador Edmundo González Urrutia, leader of Venezuela’s main opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD).
González Urrutia assumed leadership of the PUD after Venezuela’s Supreme Court disqualified anti-Chavez leader María Corina Machado.
In a recent interview with EFE this July, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, regretted that Venezuela had revoked the invitation to the European Union to observe the elections on July 28, since in his opinion, this electoral observation mission would have had “a very important added value.”
Borrell said that these missions are “the jewel in the crown of the Union’s foreign policy” and assured that “no one is in a position to carry out an electoral observation mission as complete, as numerous, as technically capable and with as much experience as the European Union.”
He also said that the lack of an EU electoral observation mission would prevent the international community from having the guarantee that these elections could be “approved”.
Brussels / EFE
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2024-07-26 15:39:58
