President and deputy of the National Assembly Jorge Rodríguez. Jul. 13, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/@Asamblea_Ven

Caracas, July 14 (RHC)-- The Venezuelan government has announced that it will not allow the presence of a European Union Electoral Observation Mission in the presidential elections scheduled for next year.

The president and deputy of the National Assembly (AN, unicameral parliament), Jorge Rodríguez, announced the decision during today's ordinary session of the legislative body.  The decision, he noted, is taken considering that the members of the European Parliament acted in an illegal manner by meddling in the internal affairs of the country, the official said. 

Rodriguez asked for respect for sovereignty: "The future of Venezuela is decided by Venezuelans (...) no electoral observation mission from Europe will return here; they will not return because they are rude and colonialist," he said.

According to the official, EU emissaries have been sent asking to be invited to the 2024 presidential elections.  "We formally tell them that we do not have time to consider their request," said the AN president, while pointing out that in Venezuela, laws are made as dictated by the Constitution.

The Draft Resolution repudiating the fifth Resolution No. (2023/2780/RSP) "On political disqualifications in Venezuela" promoted by the European Parliament was unanimously approved.

This comes in response after this Thursday the European Parliament condemned the alleged "arbitrary and unconstitutional" decision to disqualify politicians in the South American country and called for "fair, free, inclusive, and transparent elections."  

On this occasion, the National Assembly unanimously approved an agreement in repudiation of the fifth resolution on political disqualifications, promoted by the European Parliament.

The European Union electoral observation mission participated in the country's regional and municipal elections in November 2021, after 15 years of not attending electoral events in Venezuela.