EU to Analyze a New Relationship with Cuba

HAVANA TIMES — Foreign ministers of the European Union discussed in Brussels on Monday the possibility of promoting a closer relationship with Cuba through a new agreement, reported Europa Press.

“No decision will be taken right now,” said a senior European official close to the High Representative Catherine Ashton. “We will only ask the member states if they wish to maintain the current very restrictive ‘Common Position’ or whether they want to begin thinking about the possibility of having a new agreement with Cuba.”

There is still “a group of Member States that have misgivings about Cuba because of the situation of human rights in that country now, and therefore they’re quite cautious about moving to another position,” said that same source.

The European Union has committed around €80 million for Cuba since the parties agreed in 2008 to engage in various areas of cooperation.