EU and Cuba enter difficult phase of bilateral negotiations

(Baonghean.vn) - Reuters reported on September 10 that the European Union and Cuba have entered the most difficult phase of bilateral negotiations, as the two sides discuss a political agreement to replace the unilateral policy that Europe imposed on Cuba 19 years ago.

On September 10, after the fifth round of negotiations in Havana, the two sides announced that two of the three sections of the agreement, on trade and cooperation, had been basically completed. A political agreement between the 28-nation bloc and the island nation of Cuba began to be discussed.

The EU's decision last year was a victory for Cuba as the alliance reconsidered its "common position" that priority should be given to democratic reform and improving human rights in Cuba.

Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno and European negotiator Christian Leffler during a meeting in March. Photo: Reuters

“All I can say about the common position is that it is not common and it is not a position,” Abelardo Moreno, Cuba's deputy foreign minister for European affairs, told reporters at the end of two days of talks in the capital Havana.

On the EU side, the European chief negotiator, Christian Leffler, told a separate press conference that the common position remained but stressed that the EU was looking for a better and longer-lasting deal to replace it.

Mr. Leffler affirmed that the two sides still disagreed on issues such as human rights but had agreed on the common goal of the negotiations.

“We know that this is a long-term process. We are not trying to convince other countries, other governments, that there is only one perfect EU model,” said Mr. Leffler.

Less than a year after the first round of bilateral talks began, Cuba and the United States announced that their relations had been eased, restoring diplomatic relations after 54 years of the Cold War.

In March, Cuba and the European Union agreed to accelerate negotiations to reach the basics of an agreement by the end of 2015, but that deadline appears unlikely to be met.

The next round of negotiations is expected to take place in the second half of November in Brussels, Belgium.

Ngoc Trung

(According to Reuters)