EU 'extremely concerned' over Venezuela election crisis

CARACAS

The EU said it is "extremely concerned" about the deepening political crisis in Venezuela, where the results of the presidential election last month have been rejected by the opposition, the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Sunday.

Caracas has still not provided the "necessary evidence to assess the electoral process", Borrell said. The opposition has insisted its candidate won.

"Only complete and independently verifiable results will be accepted and recognised," the EU's top diplomat added.

Borrell said according to some polling station records, opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia "would appear to be the winner of the presidential election by a significant majority".

He appealed for polling station records to be published in full "to ensure that the will of the Venezuelan people is respected".

The country's strongman leader Nicolas Maduro has called for the arrest of Gonzalez Urrutia, who has not been seen in public since leading a July 30 opposition march. Prosecutors summoned him for questioning Saturday.

Protests following the disputed vote on July 28 left 27 people dead, 192 injured and about 2,400 arrested.