"The priority now is to prevent military escalation and create the conditions for a peaceful and democratic solution to the crisis", Stylianides said, speaking in the European Parliament.
The European Union intends to take additional measures, including on the issue of recognition of the leadership, if new presidential elections are not announced in Venezuela, the commissioner said.
"In case new presidential elections not being announced, we Europeans will take further action, including on the issue of recognition of the country's leadership", he said.
According to Stylianides, the European Union fully supports the National Assembly, considering it the only legitimate political body that was democratically elected by the people of Venezuela.
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On Tuesday, Mogherini held a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and the sides discussed efforts to ensure a "democratic transition" in crisis torn Venezuela.
Similarly, US Special Envoy Elliot Abrams for Venezuela warned Wednesday Nicolas Maduro that acting against self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido would be an "extremely foolish move", adding that Washington will keep up pressure on Maduro to step down by applying further sanctions and searching for assets such as bank accounts and gold holdings.
The political crisis in Venezuela escalated last week, when opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the country's interim president. The National Assembly declared incumbent President Nicolas Maduro, whose last year’s re-election it considers illegitimate, a usurper. The move was immediately welcomed by the United States, which urged Maduro to step down and officially recognized Guaido as the country's leader.
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Maduro, in turn, has insisted that he is the country's constitutional president and accused the opposition leader of being a "US puppet". Maduro also accused Washington, which has long voiced concerns over the legitimacy of his re-election last year, of organizing a coup in Venezuela.
On Tuesday, the Venezuelan Supreme Tribunal of Justice banned Guaido from leaving the country and blocked his bank accounts until the completion of the launched investigation.
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