German and Cuban officials met on Friday and discussed conditions for a possible end to EU sanctions against the communist state.
The meeting between German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly was the first bilateral meeting of its kind since Cuba’s ailing, longtime leader Fidel Castro handed the presidency to his brother Raul Castro in February.
Steinmeier said they had discussed the political situation in Cuba, “which for the first time in 50 years is showing gradual movement.”
He said the EU had welcomed Havana’s decision in February to sign an international pact on civil rights committing it to respect rights, including freedom of expression, association and movement.
“I made clear today that we noticed this gesture, but expect that the ratification process is pursued in Cuba,” he said.
Steinmeier highlighted further reforms, including greater access to mobile phone service and the Internet and the release of dozens of political prisoners. But he said the 27-member EU expected more.
“The European Union has reacted and said that if this course continues, we would lift the sanctions that have been suspended — however, with the agreed condition that a review of the human rights situation in Cuba takes place again next year,” he said.
Steinmeier said he also expressed his sympathies to Roque over losses in hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which killed seven people, destroyed 320,000 homes and caused extensive damage to crops and infrastructure.
He offered US$511,000 for emergency shelters and other humanitarian aid.
EU-Cuba relations were frozen in 2003 when the EU imposed sanctions on Havana in retaliation for the imprisonment of more than 70 dissidents and the execution of three men convicted of hijacking a ferry and demanding it sail to the US.
After a 2005 initiative from Spain to normalize relations, the EU moved definitively on June 19 to establish “political dialogue.”
The EU’s requirements for lifting sanctions include an improvement of the human rights situation and the release of political prisoners, including detainees imprisoned in 2003.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their
RSS