One of the first initiatives taken on Friday by the new Minister for Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, was to recognize Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president.
The previous leftist administration of Alexis Tsipras had an ambivalent stance on the issue.
Whereas, former Foreign Affairs Minister, George Katrougalos, had stated in May that Greece is aligned with the European Union’s stance regarding the Venezuelan crisis, governing party SYRIZA expressed its support for the regime of Nicolas Madouro, condemning “any anti-democratic intervention targeting the democratically-elected government in Venezuela.”
The announcement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is as follows:
“The Government of the Hellenic Republic, in accordance with the common EU position in the statement of the EU High Representative/Vice President, Mrs Mogherini, on behalf of the EU28, decided to recognize the President of the democratically elected National Assembly, Juan Guaido as President a.i. of Venezuela, in order for him to call for free, fair and democratic presidential elections.
“The Government of the Hellenic Republic strongly supports the efforts of the EU, especially through the International Contact Group and the Special Representative of the EUHR/VP, Mr Enrique Iglesias, as well as related initiatives such as the Oslo talks, with the aim to secure a peaceful, political, democratic, negotiated solution to the crisis, for the benefit of the Venezuelan people.”
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
