EU nations give Venezuela's Maduro eight-day ultimatum

European leaders have stepped up support for Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaidó.

The governments of Germany, Spain and France said they would recognise Juan Guaidó, who declared himself "acting president" on Wednesday, as head of state if elections are not called in the coming week.

"Unless elections are announced within eight days, we will be ready to recognize @jguaido as 'President in charge' of Venezuela in order to trigger a political process," French President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter.

This comes as several countries, including the US, back Guaidó as President.