Spain wants normal relations between EU and Cuba

Spain's foreign ministry stressed Madrid's desire to see normal relations between the whole of the European Union and Cuba after Havana announced a nenewal of "official contacts" with the Spanish ambassador.

"The foreign ministry notes the announcement by the Cuban authorities and signals that its objective is the normalisation of contacts between the Cuban authorities and all the embassies of the European Union, not just specific embassies," a ministry statement read.

"Spain will continue working with all its EU partners to achieve this normalisation with a view to reaching the objectives fixed by the common (EU) position adopted in 1996," the ministry added.
The 1996 position adopted by the EU comprised encouraging political transition in Cuba towards a pluralist democracy and respect for human rights.

Earlier, in Havana, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said contacts had been reopened with Spanish diplomats, some 17 months after the European Union imposed sanctions on the communist island.

"We met at the Spanish embassy and we have re-established official contact with the Spanish ambassador in Havana," Perez Roque said in an impromptu press conference at the foreign ministry, where he was joined by Spanish Ambassador Carlos Alonso Zaldivar.