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Monday, April 30, 2007

Europe willing to 'support change' in Cuba, says EU presidency

Europe willing to 'support change' in Cuba, says EU presidency
Published on Monday, April 30, 2007

MADRID, Spain (AFP): The European Union is "willing to support change"
in Cuba, a Spanish newspaper quoted German Foreign Minister and current
EU president Frank-Walter Steinmeier as saying on Sunday.

Steinmeier told Catalan daily El Periodico the issue of future EU
relations with Cuba would be raised at the next Council of the European
Union meeting.

Spain, which has spearheaded efforts to revive EU-Cuba relations hurt by
Havana's jailing of 75 dissidents in 2003, decided to renew its ties
with the island earlier this month.

"This step forward ... is not an affront to the EU in general and the
German presidency in particular," Steinmeier said, adding that Spain
would write up a report on the subject for its European partners.

"I am convinced that we (the EU members) will adopt agreements where it
will be clear that the EU as an organisation is willing to support
change" on the island, Steinmeier said.

"It is possible that the young generations of Cuban politicians, who
have had access to power, will move the country towards opening. There
are some signs in this direction," he added.

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