The European Parliament recognizes Edmundo González as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

The European Parliament recognized opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia as the "legitimate president" of Venezuela on Thursday.

The non-binding resolution was approved with 309 votes in favor from the European People's Party, the ultra-conservatives, and the far-right; it received 201 votes against and 12 abstentions.

The text recognizes the opposition leader González Urrutia as the "legitimate and democratically elected president of Venezuela" and María Corina Machado as the "leader of the democratic forces."

"Venezuelans want the same as Europeans have achieved: to live in freedom and democracy," said the political leader in a video posted on his Twitter account.

The Eurochamber expressed its "strong condemnation" of the "orchestrated electoral fraud" by the National Electoral Council (CNE) in the July elections, confirming the "victory" of the dictator Nicolás Maduro, and calls on the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, to restore sanctions against members of the CNE.

"The respect for the will of the Venezuelan people, expressed in the elections, remains the only way for Venezuela to restore democracy, allow for a peaceful and genuine transition, and resolve the current humanitarian and socio-economic crisis," said the MEPs.

"If by January 10, 2025, there is no peaceful transfer of power and the restoration of democracy, a new migratory exodus to other countries in the region will occur, similar to the one that has led nearly eight million Venezuelans to flee the country in recent years," they warned.

From Venezuela, opposition leader María Corina Machado thanked the European institution.

The European Parliament has gone further than the Council of the European Union, which at the end of August decided not to recognize Maduro as president but also did not recognize Edmundo González.

The opposition leader, who allegedly defeated Nicolás Maduro in the presidential elections, left Venezuela and went to Spain, where he was granted political asylum.

Days later, he stated that he was forced to sign a letter accepting a ruling by the Venezuelan Supreme Court that confirms Maduro's victory.

"I either signed or faced the consequences," he stated in a statement.

González recounted that the incident occurred at the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Caracas, where Vice President Delcy Rodríguez and her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, President of the National Assembly, presented a letter that he was supposed to sign.

"There were hours of intense coercion, blackmail, and pressure," added the opposition member, who at that moment thought it would be more useful to be free than imprisoned.