The EU failed to put on a united front on Venezuela’s contested election after Hungary vetoed a statement that expressed concern about alleged “flaws and irregularities” in the voting and called for greater transparency,
Politico reports.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner of the country’s July 28 presidential election by a government-controlled electoral body, which gave him about 51 percent of votes to 44 percent for his opponent, Edmundo González Urrutia. However, the government failed to explain how those results had been calculated and verified.
EU countries wanted to adopt a joint statement raising concerns about the result on Monday but were prevented by Budapest’s stance, two officials familiar with the discussions told POLITICO.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell subsequently published the statement — which says “credible reports from domestic and international observers indicate that the elections were marred by numerous flaws and irregularities” — in his own name.
Realizing that Hungary would likely remain intransigent, Borrell issued a follow-up statement in his name on Tuesday instead of seeking backing from the EU’s 27 member countries.
“The data that the [Venezuelan] opposition has made available to the public offers a radically different result from the one announced” by the country’s authorities, Borrell’s second statement said.
“Until voting records are made public and are verified, the election results as already declared cannot be recognised.”
