Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a broadcast at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela January 29, 2019. Picture taken January 29, 2019. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS

BERLIN (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has no democratic legitimacy, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Wednesday, adding the country needed to hold free and fair elections quickly.

“To be clear: Nicolas Maduro lacks any democratic legitimacy. He is not the democratically elected president of Venezuela,” Maas told German lawmakers after Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president last week.