BRUSSELS: The European Union rejected the conduct of Venezuela's legislative elections Monday, after the poll left President Nicolas Maduro's regime with a large majority. The bloc's top diplomat Josep Borrell, in a statement issued on behalf of the 27 EU members, said the vote had "failed to comply with minimal international standards."

"This lack of respect for political pluralism and the disqualification and prosecution of opposition leaders do not allow the EU to recognise this electoral process as credible, inclusive or transparent, and its results as representative of the will of the Venezuelan people," Borrell said. Maduro and his left-wing allies had 67.7 percent of the vote with over 80 percent of ballots counted, but most of the opposition boycotted the election, and Washington has branded it a fraud and a sham.

Borrell said the EU's foreign ministers, who met on Brussels on Monday, urge the Venezuelan authorities to begin a transition process towards "a peaceful, inclusive and sustainable solution to the political crisis, through credible, inclusive and transparent presidential and legislative elections."