EU to assess Cuban human rights agenda yearly

Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has said that EU policy towards Cuba will be reassessed annually with regards to human rights. He described the move as an active policy approach after the EU agreed to lift sanctions against the Caribbean state. The sanctions were originally agreed in 2003 (then later temporarily suspended) in an attempt to pressure the Cuban regime to improve its record on human rights. The Czech Republic has been strongly against the lifting of sanctions in the past. Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg stressed on Friday that there are more than 200 political prisoners held in appalling conditions in Cuba; he made clear the Czech Republic would continue to push for their release.