The European Parliament recognized the head of the National Assembly of Venezuela Juan Guaido interim President of the country. On January 31 the President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani said about this on Twitter, writes Deutsche Welle.

Maduro did not comply with an ultimatum

The reason for the decision is the position of the officially elected President Nicolas Maduro, who rejected the call of the EU and a number of European States to hold early elections.

At the same time, the European Parliament urged the governments of the EU member States to recognize Guido as the interim President of Venezuela.

Maduro, in response to the ultimatum put forward by European countries, said that the Europeans make a mistake, indulging the US President Donald Trump.

“The whole of Europe is following Trump’s words, especially with regard to Venezuela,” he stressed and urged Germany, the UK, France, Spain, the Netherlands and other countries to abandon their demands.

The ultimatum of the European countries and Brussels

Earlier, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Germany and a number of other countries stated that they recognize the self-proclaimed President Juan Guaido in the event that Maduro does not announce new elections within 8 days. A similar statement was made by the EU high representative for foreign policy and security Federica Mogherini.

In May 2018, Venezuela held presidential elections. According to the CEC, the current President Nicolas Maduro won, gaining about 70 percent of the vote. On January 22, protests against Maduro began in Caracas and other cities of the country. A day later the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela Juan Guaido declared himself the acting President. He said that he is taking a risky step, saving Caracas from the “dictatorship” and restoring constitutional order. In support of Guaido thousands of his supporters left to the streets of Caracas.

The United States, the Organization of American States (OAS), many Latin American countries, Canada, Australia and a number of European countries have recognized Guaido as the interim head of Venezuela. On 28 January, the United States imposed sanctions on the Venezuelan oil sector. In particular, the state oil concern PdVSA falls under the restrictive measures. Venezuela will still be able to sell oil on the world market, the proceeds will be transferred to the blocked accounts, access to which the authorities of the country will not.