EU recognizes Guaido as opposition not interim President

Despite the last week's European Parliament's resolution for EU governments to maintain Guaido's position as head of state, a joint statement by the bloc's members described him as part of the democratic opposition in the country, the Sputnik reported.

The European Union has announced that despite regarding Juan Guaido as a "privileged interlocutor", it no longer considers him an interim president of Venezuela.

The 27 members of the block said in a joint statement that Guaido is a part of the democratic opposition, despite a recent European Parliament's resolution for EU governments to maintain Guaido's position as head of state.

"The EU repeats its calls for... the freedom and safety of all political opponents, in particular representatives of the opposition parties elected to the National Assembly of 2015, and especially Juan Guaido," the statement said following a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

Last week, Guaido thanked the European Parliament for recognizing him as president of Venezuela's National Assembly, arguing that the 2020 parliamentary elections were fraudulent.

The EU, however, stopped referring to Guaido as Venezuela's "acting president" after his National Assembly leadership mandate expired earlier this month.

MNA/PR