Eight European nations joined the United States in recognising opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president on Monday, heightening the global showdown over Nicolas Maduro’s socialist rule.

Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Germany’s coordinated move came after the expiry of an eight-day deadline set last weekend for Maduro to call a new election.

“Venezuelans have the right to express themselves freely and democratically. France recognizes @jguaido as ‘interim president’ to implement an electoral process,” President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told reporters in Madrid on Monday that “we are working for the return of full democracy in Venezuela: human rights, elections and no more political prisoners.”

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said via social media. “UK alongside European allies now recognises @jguaido as interim constitutional president until credible elections can be held.”

Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom told Swedish broadcaster SVT the vote that brought Maduro to power was not a “free and fair election.”

Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen on Twitter said that Denmark would recognize Guaido until “new free and democratic elections take place.”

Meanwhile, Russia accused European nations of legitimizing Guaido’s “illegal claim to power,” saying the recognitions amounted to foreign meddling

“Attempts to legitimize usurped power” constituted “interference in Venezuela’s internal affairs,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Several European nations on Jan. 26 said they would recognize Guaido as interim president unless a plan for fresh elections was announced within eight days.

Maduro quickly rejected the deadline, saying “Nobody can give us an ultimatum.”

Guaido declared himself Venezuela’s legitimate ruler on Jan. 23 and already had the support of the U.S., Canada and most South American nations.

Meanwhile, Turkey, Russia, China, Iran, Cuba, Bolivia and Nicaragua, along with other countries, have stood by President Maduro, opposing the undemocratic intervention.