- Feb 22, 2017
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European Union foreign ministers agreed on Thursday they would not recognise the "democratic legitimacy" of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro following the country's disputed election, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
Borrell said the ministers made the decision after Venezuela's national electoral body repeatedly failed to heed calls to provide credible data to support Maduro's claims of victory in last month's election.
"We cannot accept the legitimacy of Maduro as elected president," Borrell told reporters after a meeting of foreign ministers from the EU's 27 member countries in Brussels.
"He will remain president, de facto ... But we deny democratic legitimacy based on a result that cannot be verified."
Good move on the part of the EU.