Finland recognises Guaidó as Venezuela interim President

Finland along with 17 other member states of European Union on Monday acknowledged and supported Juan Guaidó, President of the democratically elected National Assembly, as President ad interim of Venezuela in accordance with the provisions of the Venezuelan Constitution.

The EU countries in a joint declaration extended the support in order for him to call for free, fair and democratic presidential elections, said an official press release.

Finland along with Spain, Portugal, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, Luxemburg, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Sweden and Croatia takes note that Nicolás Maduro has chosen not to set in motion the electoral process, said the press release.

On January 26, various Member States urged Nicolás Maduro to take the necessary legal steps for democratic presidential elections to be announced within 8 days. On that same day, the EU Vice President issued a statement on behalf of the 28 EU Member States, also calling for the urgent holding of free, transparent and credible presidential elections and indicating that, in the absence of an announcement on the organization of fresh elections with the necessary guarantees over the next days, the EU would take further actions, including on the issue of recognition of the country´s leadership, in line with article 233 of the Venezuelan constitution.