Restoring democracy in Venezuela must respect its people’s will, EU countries say

BRUSSELS, Jan 4 (Reuters) – The principles of international law must be upheld in Venezuela and the will of the country’s people must be respected, the European Union said on ‍Sunday, in a statement supported by all members of the bloc except for Hungary.

The U.S. attacked Venezuela on Saturday and deposed its long-serving President Nicolas Maduro in an overnight operation, in Washington’s most direct intervention in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama.

“The EU recalls that, under ‌all circumstances, the principles of international law and ‌the U.N. Charter must be upheld. Members of the United Nations Security Council have a particular responsibility to uphold those principles, as a pillar of the international security architecture,”  the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas ​said in a statement supported by 26 of the 27 EU nations.

The joint statement called for restraint from all sides to ‍ensure a peaceful solution. The EU has ​said Maduro lacked democratic legitimacy, and called for ​a transition to democracy determined by the will of the Venezuelan people.

“Respecting ‍the will of the Venezuelan people remains the only way for Venezuela to restore democracy and resolve the current crisis,” the statement said.

It added that the EU shared the priority of combatting organised crime and drug trafficking. Such challenges must be addressed “through sustained ‍cooperation in full respect of international law and the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty,” the statement said.

Maduro is in a New York ‍detention centre awaiting a ‍Monday court appearance on drug charges. Maduro was ​indicted in 2020 on U.S. charges including narco-terrorism ​conspiracy. ⁠He has always denied any criminal involvement.

The EU ‌is in close contact with the United States and other partners, the statement said.

A spokesperson for Hungary’s representation to the EU did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why it had not signed the statement.

(Reporting by Kate Abnett, Sudip Kar-Gupta, Lili BayerEditing by Sudip Kar-Gupta ⁠and Ros Russell)