As of Thursday, 19 September, the European Parliament has recognised Edmundo González Urrutia, the Venezuelan political opponent exiled in Spain, as “the legitimate and democratically elected President of Venezuela” by adopting a resolution initially tabled by the EPP, ECR, and Patriots for Europe (309 votes in favour, 201 against, and 12 abstentions) (see EUROPE 13485/4).
However, MEPs rejected the paragraph that called on the European Union and its Member States to recognise Mr González as such (274 votes in favour, 311 against, and 23 abstentions).
The European Parliament describes Nicolás Maduro’s reelection as “electoral fraud”, demands the release of all those who have been arbitrarily detained, and calls for further European sanctions that directly target the Venezuelan president.
Also adopted was a Renew Europe amendment that replaced the original text that was in favour of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing an international arrest warrant for Mr Maduro for crimes against humanity. According to the adopted amendment, the European Parliament is calling on the ICC to include the ongoing human rights violations and arbitrary detentions in its investigations into alleged crimes against humanity committed by the Maduro regime and to hold those responsible to account.
French socialists and the Renew Europe group refused to participate in the final vote on the resolution as a sign of protest against conservatives, the right, and the far right’s cooperation. “Renew Europe is fully supporting Venezuela’s opposition leader but will not sign up to political deals with the so-called ‘Patriots’. The future of the European Union must be crafted in the political centre”, indicated Frenchwoman Valérie Hayer, [the group’s] president, in a press release. Raphaël Glucksmann and Nora Mebarek stressed, “No democratic, pro-European group should—under any circumstances—work hand in hand with the Putinist, authoritarian far right within the European Parliament”.
See the European Parliament’s resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/dht (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)