EU urged to hold stance on Cuba

EU urged to hold stance on Cuba
Schwarzenberg: 'No freedom yet' despite prisoners' release
Posted: August 4, 2010
By Cillian O'Donoghue

Foreign Affairs Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has rejected calls for the
European Union to reconsider its policy toward Cuba.

"There has certainly been a shift [in Cuba's human rights policy], but
it is still not freedom yet," he said, speaking at a meeting of the EU
Council of Ministers July 26.

Schwarzenberg urged other leaders to stay the course on Cuba policy
despite the July 7 release of 52 political prisoners by Cuban
authorities. The Catholic Church and Spanish diplomats negotiated the
prisoners' release, following hunger strikes by two prominent
dissidents. Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos urged EU
member states to adopt a more friendly approach to the Castro regime,
connecting the prisoner release with Spain's conciliatory approach.

Pavla Holcová, head of the Cuba section at NGO People in Need (Člověk v
tísni), said she agreed with Schwarzenberg.

"There is a common position on Cuba, and we support the current
position," she said. "The Spanish are disrupting this by already
ignoring the sanctions."

In 1996, EU member states agreed to adopt a common approach toward Cuba,
which has guided relations ever since. This policy calls for advances in
democracy and human rights before relations with Cuba can be considered
"normalized."

Jakub Klepal with the Forum 2000 Foundation said the different
approaches to Cuba stem from different histories.

"Czechs have experienced a similar regime and see it as important for
the people of Cuba to see continued support from the outside," he said.
"We sympathize with the Cuban people, while Spain has had a different
historical experience."

Schwarzenberg also echoed experiences from communist Czechoslovakia.

"I would compare today's Cuba to what used to be here in Czechoslovakia.
It is slowly changing from the 1950s to the 1970s," he said. "In the
1950s, people died in prisons here; in the 1970s, the regime also
attempted to expel people, which meant, however, that they could have
never gone home."

In May 2005, while a senator, Schwarzenberg was expelled from Cuba for
attending a pro-democracy conference organized by dissidents.

"This is typical behavior of a totalitarian state. I did nothing against
the law; they just didn't like the people I was visiting," Schwarzenberg
said at the time.

Cuba-EU relations have been strained since 75 people were arrested
during a crackdown on political opponents in 2003, when the country was
still run by Fidel Castro. The EU imposed sanctions, which were lifted
in 2008. The Czech Republic, Germany and Sweden are seen as the European
countries particularly skeptical of the Cuban regime, now headed by
Fidel's brother, Raul.

Each year, the EU reviews its Cuba policy. On June 10, the EU postponed
this year's policy review until the fall, most likely in September.

"The Czechs are in the minority and are working strongly toward keeping
the current, common position," Klepal said.

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