Friday

29th Mar 2024

France makes unilateral move on Cuba

France last week invited members of the Cuban government to an event celebrating its national holiday (14 July), going beyond the EU's policy on the matter.

The French embassy in Cuba invited the communist officials in order to "open frank and constructive dialogue, which is indispensable to understanding and progress", said French ambassador to Havana Marie-France Pagnier, according to AFP.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The French invitation to Cuban officials was the first of its kind in the two years since the EU froze diplomatic contacts with Havana.

The bloc made the move in June 2003, after 75 dissidents, including 26 independent journalists, were arrested and sentenced to up to 28 years in prison. Only 14 of them have been released since.

The Cuban government had also suspended all contact with European diplomats, including attendance at national events of EU member countries, in protest over invitations to dissidents, AFP writes.

In January 2005, EU foreign ministers suspended the diplomatic sanctions against Cuba for six months, and in June they agreed that the sanctions should remain on the shelf for one more year.

"Finally, today, Europe's inevitable correction has come", Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said.

"It is clear that the the so-called sanctions adopted by the European Union in 2003 were unjust and ineffective", he added.

On the other hand, some European diplomats were critical of the French move.

"I am sad", said Portugal's ambassador to Cuba, Mario Rodino de Matos.

"It is a success for France, but I would have preferred that the European Union keep a unified position", he added.

France had also invited several Cuban dissidents to the embassy before the Bastille Day celebration.

But almost all of the dissidents called the French move an "error", and expressed "their profound concern as regards the lack of symmetry in the relations between the EU and Havana", said Elizardo Sanchez, president of the Cuban commission for human rights and national reconciliation, according to Le Monde.

US and EU breaking taboos to restrain Israel

The US abstained and all EU states on the UN Security Council backed a call for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza, as Europe prepares to also blacklist extremist Israeli settlers.

EU warns Russia over Moscow terror attacks

Europe has warned Russia not to use the weekend's terror attacks in Moscow as a pretext to escalate its war in Ukraine and crackdown on internal dissent.

EU summit risks failing Gaza once again, Ireland warns

Austrians and Czechs might block an EU statement calling for an Israeli ceasefire, Ireland warned, as leaders met in Brussels amid starvation in Gaza. Israel's conduct of the war meant it had "squandered the support they had", Leo Varadkar said.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us