Bulgaria’s government expresses support for Guaidó as interim President of Venezuela
At a scheduled meeting on February 6, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov’s government formally approved the country’s support for Juan Guaidó in his capacity as interim President of Venezuela, the government information service said.
The government statement used the word “recognises” in its title, though in the text it referred to “approved support for”.
Earlier, Reuters, quoting diplomatic sources, said that not all countries would use the word “recognises” in relation to Guaidó as acting head of state of Venezuela.
The Bulgarian government announcement came a day after a special meeting of the Cabinet security council considered the situation in Venezuela.
After the February 5 meeting, a statement said that Bulgaria expressed its solidarity with its partners in the EU and the international community that recognised Guaidó as temporary head of state.
The statement noted that this position by the representatives at the council meeting of President Roumen Radev. On February 4, Radev called for Bulgaria not to back the proposed EU position recognising Guaidó as interim President of Venezuela.
Two days after Radev’s statement, the leader of the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party, also called for Bulgaria not to back Guaidó, saying that this was unacceptable interference in a third country.
Earlier, Putin’s Russia sharply criticised those EU countries that on February 4 endorsed Guaidó.
The Bulgarian government statement on February 6 said that Venezuela was in a sharp, socio-economic, humanitarian and security crisis, to which a severe migration crisis had been added in the past year. According to official data, about four million people have quit Venezuela in the past year.
The statement noted that inflation in Venezuela was about to reach 1.7 million per cent, and there were no essential items in the country.
Nicolás Maduro took office in a new presidential term in January, after elections denounced by several countries, including the US and EU member states, as flawed. Guaidó, the head of Venezuela’s legislature, declared himself interim President.
(Photo, of the Cabinet building in Sofia: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
