Mr Josep Borrell Vice-President of the European Commission High Representative of the Union for the CFSP Rue de la Loi 170 1000 Brussels Brussels, 16th April 2021 Dear Mr. High Representative; Mr Vice-President of the Commission: A delegation from the illegitimate National Assembly of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which emerged from the electoral farce organised on 6th December 2020 by the regime of Nicolás Maduro, recently paid a visit to Brussels and was officially received by the institution you lead. According to a statement you made on behalf of the European Union on 6th December, this spurious process took place in the absence of electoral conditions that could have guaranteed its credibility, without any respect for political pluralism, and in an atmosphere of persecution and disqualification of democratic leaders whose legitimate rights were curtailed. Your statement concludes that such circumstances could not consider this process credible, inclusive, and transparent and therefore the results did not represent the will of the Venezuelan people. That initial statement was confirmed on 6 January of this year by a new declaration, in similar terms to those expressed on 6 December, and by the conclusions of the Foreign Affairs Council of 25 January. These reiterated the lack of recognition of the electoral process and regretted the behaviour of the authorities of the Maduro regime, whose actions are preventing a solution to the serious crisis in Venezuela. We were surprised and gravely concerned to learn that on 14th April, at your request, senior officials of the European External Action Service received the aforementioned delegation, comprising Iris Varela, Pedro Carreño and Desirée Santos Amaral, at the EEAS headquarters. We consider the treatment given to the delegation to be an extremely serious matter. This is particularly the case as the delegation was led by Ms. Iris Varela, who is widely known for her radical and violent views, for publicly threatening the interim president Juan Guaidó and other democratic leaders, and for being largely responsible for the expulsion of the EU Ambassador in Caracas. This measure was sponsored and promoted by the illegitimate National Assembly, where Ms. Varela is Vice-President. This action seriously threatens the credibility of the EU, and gives the impression to the public that the interlocutors of the High Representative and the EEAS are the acolytes of the abominable regime of Nicolás Maduro. For these reasons, we, the undersigned, demand a full explanation of such an erratic policy in relation to the Venezuela crisis, while keeping the possibility of requesting your appearance in Parliament in order to shed light on the matter. Yours sincerely, Leopoldo LÓPEZ GIL (European People's Party) Coordinator of the European People's Party Group in the Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (D-LAT) Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew Europe) Vice President of the European Parliament in charge of Latin American Affairs Esteban GONZÁLEZ PONS (European People's Party) Vice-chair Group of the European People's Party Hermann TERTSCH (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) Vice-Chair European Conservatives and Reformists Group / Vice-Chair of the Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (D-LAT) Dolors MONTSERRAT (European People's Party) Spokesperson of Partido Popular at the European Parliament Jorge BUXADÉ (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) Spokesperson of VOX at the European Parliament José Manuel GARCÍA-MARGALLO Y MARFIL (European People's Party) Vice-Chair of the Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (D-LAT) Jordi CAÑAS (Renew Europe) Coordinator of the Renew Europe Group in the Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (D-LAT) Anna FOTYGA (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) Coordinator of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament María Soraya RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS (Renew Europe) Coordinator of the Renew Europe Group in the Subcomitte of Human Rights of the European Parliament Antonio LÓPEZ-ISTÚRIZ WHITE (European People's Party) Secretary General of the European People's Party Antonio TAJANI (European People's Party) Former President of the European Parliament Pablo ARIAS ECHEVERRÍA (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member Bartosz ARŁUKOWICZ (European People's Party) D-LAT Member Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member Daniel BUDA (European People's Party) D-LAT Member Maria da Graça CARVALHO (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member Pilar del CASTILLO VERA (European People's Party) D-LAT Member Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU (European People's Party) D-LAT Member Deirdre CLUNE (European People's Party) D-LAT Member Christian DOLESCHAL (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member Herbert DORFMANN (European People's Party) D-LAT Member Rosa ESTARÀS FERRAGUT (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member Markus FERBER (European People's Party) D-LAT Member José Manuel FERNANDES (European People's Party) D-LAT Member Loucas FOURLAS (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member Jens GIESEKE (European People's Party) D-LAT Member Andrzej HALICKI (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member Christophe HANSEN (European People's Party) D-LAT Member Krzysztof HETMAN (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member Danuta Maria HÜBNER (European People's Party) D-LAT Member Ewa KOPACZ (European People's Party) D-LAT Member Janusz LEWANDOWSKI (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member Peter LIESE (European People's Party) D-LAT Member Norbert LINS (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member David McALLISTER (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member Gabriel MATO (European People's Party) D-LAT Member Nuno MELO (European People's Party) D-LAT Member Giuseppe MILAZZO (European People's Party) D-LAT Member Dan-Ştefan MOTREANU (European People's Party) D-LAT Member Stanislav POLČÁK (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member Jessica POLFJÄRD (European People's Party) D-LAT Member Simone SCHMIEDTBAUER (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member Andreas SCHWAB (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member Jörgen WARBORN (European People's Party) D-LAT Member Michal WIEZIK (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member Juan Ignacio ZOIDO ÁLVAREZ (European People's Party) D-LAT Member Željana ZOVKO (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member Milan ZVER (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member Margarita DE LA PISA CARRIÓN (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) D-LAT Member Carlo FIDANZA (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) D-LAT Substitute Member Francisco José MILLÁN MON (European People's Party) AFET Committee Member Javier ZARZALEJOS (European People's Party) AFET Committee Substitute Member Karol KARSKI (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) AFET Committee Member Charlie WEIMERS (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) AFET Committee Member Jacek SARYUSZ-WOLSKI (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) AFET Committee Member Kosma ZLOTOWSKI (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) Member of the European Parliament Dace MELBĀRDE (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) Member of the European Parliament Mazaly AGUILAR (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) Member of the European Parliament Nicola PROCACINI (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) Member of the European Parliament Jadwiga WISNIEWSKA (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) Member of the European Parliament .