Prague wants EU to take tough line with Havana

The Czech EU presidency says that a normalization of EU-Cuban relations should be conditioned by respect for human rights on the island. Following a meeting with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriques in Brussels, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout said it was important to maintain pressure on Havana to respect human rights. He said that when the EU delegation inquired about the health of political prisoners in Cuba, they had been told there were no political prisoners on the island. Despite this, the block’s development commissioner Luis Michel is pushing for the EU to normalize relations with Cuba as swiftly as possible on the grounds that the US is doing the same.