European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini holds a news conference after an EU-African Union meeting in Brussels, Belgium, January 22, 2019. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Venezuelan authorities must immediately release three detained foreign journalists and a driver, the European Union’s top diplomat said on Thursday.

“There is a clear call from my side to release immediately your colleagues in Caracas,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told reporters in Bucharest after a meeting of EU defense ministers. “We firmly believe that all journalists should be able to exercise their duties, responsibilities and rights in their work,” Mogherini said.

The journalists were working for the Spanish news agency EFE on Wednesday, the company said, in the latest arrests of reporters covering U.S.-backed efforts to oust President Nicolas Maduro.