The European Union's attempt to present a unified stance on Venezuela's recent presidential election faltered on July 30 as Hungary blocked a joint statement, sources close to the matter cited by Politico said.

Venezuelan electoral authorities declared incumbent President Nicolás Maduro the winner of the July 28 vote with 51% of ballots cast. Opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia reportedly received 44%, though concerns have been raised about the transparency of the vote counting process, as the Maduro-aligned electoral authority refuses to publish a breakdown of the tallies.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell issued two separate statements under his own authority after failing to secure unanimous backing from the bloc's 27 member states.

“The data that the opposition has made available to the public offers a radically different result from the one announced” by the country’s authorities, Borrell said in his second statement on July 30.

“Until voting records are made public and are verified, the election results as already declared cannot be recognised.”

Hungarian officials did not respond to requests for comment on their position.

The disagreement among EU members underscores the challenges facing the bloc's common foreign policy, which requires consensus for major decisions.

Hungary's opposition to the joint statement on Venezuela mirrors similar stances the government led by Viktor Orban has taken against sanctions targeting Russia in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.

Some member states, led by Germany, have pushed for reforming EU foreign policy decision-making to allow for qualified majority voting on certain issues.

Budapest was recently under fire for relaxing visa requirements for Russian and Belarusian citizens – a move that would “create grave loopholes for espionage activities, posing a serious risk to national security," according to European People's Party President Manfred Weber.