France, U.K. Recognize Juan Guaido as Venezuela Interim President

February 4, 2019, 5:24 AM EST Updated on February 4, 2019, 12:10 PM EST

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The U.K., Germany and France led a host of European countries in recognizing Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president.

The U.K., Germany and France led a host of European countries in recognizing Venezuelan National Assembly leader Juan Guaido as the country’s interim president on Monday, joining an international push led by the U.S. censuring Nicolas Maduro and calling for new elections.

Spain, Austria, the Netherlands and Poland also said this week they would support Guaido. Several of these nations said on Jan. 26 that they would recognize Guaido in the event Maduro refused to call elections within eight days. The European Union failed to jointly support the head of the National Assembly when countries including Italy vetoed a push to make that the position of the whole bloc.