EU foreign ministers released a statement calling for Venezuela to release all political prisoners. The same statement also called for new national elections.
Ministers from the 28 EU nations met in Brussels, Belgium on May 15.
Venezuela topped the group’s agenda. The South American nation has been wracked by violent protests through the past six weeks. Living conditions have steadily worsened for the past four years. There are shortages of food and medicine throughout the oil-exporting nation.
Meanwhile, President Nicolás Maduro is trying to rewrite the constitution to gain more power.
Some 600,00 EU citizens live in Venezuela. EU nations are concerned for their welfare.
The ministers also discussed setting up a defense coordination center, but those talks stalled.
Britain, still an EU member until its official withdrawal in 2019, changed its mind and blocked the plan.
