EU agrees to lift 'symbolic' sanctions on Cuba

EU agrees to lift 'symbolic' sanctions on Cuba
Posted : Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:30:04 GMT
Author : DPA

Brussels - European Union foreign ministers agreed late Thursday to lift
sanctions on Cuba, diplomats said. The sanctions, imposed in 2003 but
suspended in 2005, are largely symbolic. They include limits on
high-level government visits and the role of EU diplomats in Cuba's
cultural events.

But the move is nevertheless expected to place Brussels and Washington
on a collision course.

Earlier Thursday, a US State Department spokesman said that Washington
opposed any moves to ease sanctions on Cuba, saying that reforms so far
under new Cuban President Raul Castro are "some very minor, cosmetic
changes" that have fallen well short of ending decades of repressive
policies under Fidel Castro.

"Certainly we would not be supportive of the EU or anyone else easing
those restrictions at this time," State Department deputy spokesman Tom
Casey said Thursday, when asked about the possible lifting of sanctions.

The end of sanctions would give legitimacy to a dictatorial regime,
Casey said, and countries should not signal that the "continued
oppression of the Cuban people is any more acceptable now than in the past."

The EU decision must now be formalized at a later meeting, with foreign
ministers expected to review the decision one year from now.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/213709,eu-agrees-to-lift-symbolic-sanctions-on-cuba.html