the EU countries have in principle agreed on a statement supporting that the leader of Venezuela’s national assembly who is also the leader of the opposition, Juan Guaidó become the country’s interim president.

unclear if and when the statement can be published. Italy has blocked it, according to the diplomatkällor that Reuters spoke with. Ireland also reported to be reluctant to admit Guaidó. There is a concern that it sets an example for the future, in practice, recognise a self-proclaimed leader.

Earlier on Monday said foreign minister, Margot Wallström, Sweden’s the Radio that Venezuela is a country in decline and that EU member states never accepted the election results that brought the current president, Nicolás Maduro to power.

– it is Now Venezuela get the new, free and fair elections. We are willing to impose more sanctions, said Wallström to the SR.

that the EU ”supports the Guaidó” and that word choice was important in this context, because it is not in the international personality sense, acknowledged the leader of the opposition, but saw him as the legitimate leader.

– We consider him as the legitimate president of the national assembly, as interim president with the task that, according to their constitution, may declare new elections, said Margot Wallström to the TT and referred to the Venezuelan constitution.

Several EUROPEAN countries, among them France, Germany, Spain and the Uk, has called on Nicolás Maduro to declare free elections. They had given him to the midnight between Sunday and Monday to follow the call.

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after a declared early on Monday a series of EUROPEAN countries, most of them in posts on Twitter, that they now consider Juan Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela.

First up was Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez. He was followed by the Uk foreign minister, Jeremy Hunt, Denmark’s minister for foreign affairs Anders Samuelsen, the Austrian chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, president of the French republic Emmanuel Macron, minister for foreign affairs Margot Wallström, the Latvian foreign minister Edgars Rinkevics, and Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevicius and Polish ministry of foreign affairs.

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Nicolás Maduro, said on Sunday in an interview in the Spanish tv-channel Sexta that he will not give way to pressure from those who want to see him resign.

“They try to penetrate us in a corner with their ultimatum to force an extreme situation with confrontations,” said Maduro in a television interview, reports TT.

together with several Latin american states, an international contact group to promote a peaceful development of the crisis in Venezuela.

”the Liaison group will gather with the EUROPEAN union, and eight european union member states (France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the united kingdom) and countries from Latin america (Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Uruguay)”, announced the EU’s utrikeschef Federica Mogherini and Uruguay’s president Tabaré Vázquez, in a joint statement.

the contact group will meet in Uruguay on Thursday, February 7. The aim is to push for free elections in Venezuela for that country’s residents themselves should be able to decide over their future.

Read more. Trump: Squad to Venezuela ”an alternative”

Read more. The european parliament is the EU to recognise the Guaidó as president