Wed, November 04, 2009
HAVANA, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Most European Union (EU) member states want the bloc to seek normalization of relations with Cuba, a EU commissioner said here Tuesday.
This is "an opinion of most EU members," said Karel de Gucht, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, who was on a visit to Havana. But he acknowledged that some nations donot share the same view.
"We are seeking common spaces to normalize ties with Havana," De Gucht said before meeting with Cuban Vice President Ricardo Cabrisas.
The diplomat arrived in Cuba on Friday and he was scheduled to leave the island on Wednesday. He met with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment Rodrigo Malmierca.
De Gucht's visit to Cuba was aimed to review the cooperation projects with the country, which are of 400 million euros.
In 2003, the EU imposed sanctions on Cuba, which were suspended in 2005 and were totally lifted at the EU summit in June 2008.
The two sides resumed dialogue in October last year when the then European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel visited Cuba and signed with then Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque a declaration to restore the bilateral cooperation. During Michel's visit, both sides also promised to strengthen their ties.
In May, Rodriguez said after an EU-Cuban ministerial-level meeting in Brussels that his country was ready to normalize relations with the EU to build a new start in the bilateral relations.
The EU-Cuban meeting came after President Barack Obama called for reevaluating U.S policies toward the Carribbean Island nation on April 19.
