“Unlike Maduro, the parliamentary assembly, including Juan Guaido have a democratic mandate from Venezuelan citizens,” President of the European Council Donald Tusk tweeted on Wednesday evening, urging all of Europe to support “democratic forces” in Venezuela.

Tusk ended up in his current job after losing the parliamentary elections in Poland in 2014, so he should know a thing or two about democratic legitimacy.

Meanwhile, the unelected EU High Representative for foreign policy, Federica Mogherini, likewise declared her support for Guaido’s self-proclaimed government, in language strangely reminiscent of EU support extended to Ukraine’s coup in 2014.

“Violence and the excessive use of force by security forces are completely unacceptable, and will for sure not resolve the crisis. The Venezuelan people have the right to peacefully demonstrate, to freely chose [sic] its leaders and decide its future,” Mogherini said in a statement.

While Venezuelans appear at best divided between Guaido and Maduro, Washington has taken upon itself to declare which government in Caracas is legitimate, throwing its support behind leader of the National Assembly, which was last elected in 2015 and – according to Maduro – replaced by the 2017 Constitutional Assembly.

US allies have followed suit, with most OAS members, Canada, France and now the EU backing Guaido.

Maduro has given US diplomats 72 hours to leave the country, but Guaido has called on them to stay, setting the stage for a possible diplomatic confrontation. Venezuela’s military has sided with Maduro.

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