The EPP Group in the European Parliament calls on the European Union to adopt “additional sanctions” targeting illegitimate state assets located abroad and Venezuelan leaders and their relatives responsible for human rights violations in a draft resolution of which EUROPE has had a copy.
Deploring the “lack of tangible results” recorded by the International Contact Group on Venezuela, the Christian Democrats believe that the sole objective of this initiative should be to create the political conditions for the organisation of new presidential elections, while the EU does not recognise Nicolás Maduro's second term as President.
The International Contact Group, which also aims to facilitate the impartial delivery of foreign humanitarian aid to Venezuelans, will meet a second time at ministerial level in Ecuador on Thursday 28 March (see EUROPE 12216/4).
The EPP Group also calls on Member States that have not yet done so, such as Slovakia, to recognise the legitimacy of the self-proclaimed President, Juan Guaidó, “as a matter of urgency”. Similarly, the ambassadors to the EU and the Twenty-Eight appointed by Mr Guaidó should be fully recognised, he said.
Tension on the ground increased after the United States also criticised the presence of Russian soldiers on Venezuelan soil, deployed as a sign of Moscow's support for the ruling party.
The Parliament plenary will adopt its resolution on Venezuela on Thursday. See the draft resolution of the EPP Group: http://bit.ly/2UdtvCC. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)