BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union said on Wednesday it will not send observers to parliamentary elections in Venezuela in December, warning that President Nicolas Maduro’s decision to call them at short notice worsened the political crisis in the country.
The EU, like the United States, wants new presidential elections to reverse Venezuela’s spiral into authoritarian rule and economic collapse, seeing the parliamentary vote as a way for Maduro to seize control of the opposition-held assembly.
“As the elections are not going to be postponed, the European Union can not even consider sending an election observer mission,” the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell told the European Parliament.
Maduro invited the EU as an election observer in late September for the Dec. 6 vote, in which voters will elect delegates in the National Assembly. That is too to organise an EU mission, which would typically involve sending a team months ahead of time to assess free and fair campaigning, as well as other conditions.
Members of Venezuela’s opposition have also called for a delay so that international observers can attend, fearing that the result could otherwise be rigged in Maduro’s favour.
The current assembly head, Juan Guaido, is recognised by the EU as Venezuela’s legitimate head-of-state, though Maduro retains control of the government and military.
Maduro has said he is bound by Venezuela’s constitution to hold the vote on Dec. 6.
“This only serves to worsen the political situation in Venezuela,” Borrell told EU lawmakers during a debate on the crisis in the South American nation.
(Reporting by Robin Emmott, editing by Marine Strauss)
