The European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called for “restraint by all actors” and urged to respect international law in a statement published Sunday night, as the United States remained vague on its future plans for Venezuela after the dramatic ousting of Nicolás Maduro.
The statement led by Kallas was supported by 26 out of 27 EU member states, with only Hungary opting out. Budapest is a close ally of US President Donald Trump, who over the weekend described the military operation that brought down Maduro as “brilliant”, and suggested the US would run Venezuela on an interim basis without specifying an end date.
“The EU recalls, that under all circumstances, the principles of international law and the UN Charter must be upheld,” the statement read. “The EU calls for calm and restraint by all actors to avoid escalation and to ensure a peaceful solution to the crisis.”
“Respecting the will of the Venezuelan people remains the only way forward for Venezuela to restore democracy and resolve the current crisis,” it added.
The statement is the closest the European Union has come to a joint position after a weekend of vague, and often contradictory statements, from EU leaders.
While Spanish Minister Pedro Sánchez led the loudest criticism alongside Latin American countries, rejecting the attack which ousted Nicolás Maduro on Saturday as “in breach of international law”, the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was more cautious.
Merz said on Saturday that the legal assessment behind the US intervention is “complex and requires careful consideration” while stressing that the political efforts should be placed on a democratic transition.
French President Emmanuel Macron did not comment on the details of the US Delta Force operation, but did acknowledge the joy of the Venezuelan people after the ousting of Maduro and his “dictatorship”.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, seen as more ideologically aligned with Trump, backed the narrative presented by the US government, suggesting that the intervention was “legitimate” against a state apparatus that promoted drug trafficking.
“External military action is not the path to end totalitarian regimes,” she said in a statement Saturday, while pointing to a legitimate “defensive intervention against hybrid attacks.”
The US captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their fortified compound in Caracas on Saturday in a spectacular military operation. The two are currently held at a New York prison facing US charges of narcoterrorism and drug trafficking.
Europe walks fine line as US stays vague on Venezuela’s future
As the EU reiterated that the future of Venezuela depends entirely on the will of its people, the US administration remained opaque on what that may look like.
In a press conference on Saturday, Trump said the US would run Venezuela on the interim, without giving a deadline or details about the practicalities on the ground, until a transition that is “safe, proper and judicious” can take hold.
He also suggested that María Corina Machado, the leading voice of the Venezuela opposition and Maduro’s fiercest critic, would not be in a position to lead a transition government. Trump did not give a time horizon for an election to be held.
In the meantime, the running of the country remains largely in the hands of Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president turned de-facto leader. The Trump administration has insisted that she “will do whatever” the US asks of her, even as she struck a defiant tone on Saturday calling for Maduro to be released in a public address.
“What is being done to Venezuela is an atrocity that violates international law,” she said. “History and justice will make the extremists who promoted this armed aggression pay.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that the US will make an assessment based on actions, not words. “We’re going to make an assessment on the basis of what they do, not what they say publicly. We’re going to find out,” he told CBS News.
He argued the US holds leverage on the country through sanctions and oil, and that Trump has not ruled out any scenario if the country fails to break ties with drug traffickers while warning more strikes could follow if operations by alleged drug boats in the Caribbean persist.
Rubio also said it is hard to signal a timeline for new elections, arguing that the Venezuelan opposition is largely outside of the country and shorter-term challenges have to be addressed first.
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