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Roundup: Cuba, EU conclude fifth round of talks in Havana

Xinhua, September 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

Cuba and the European Union (EU) made progresses on their talks about enhancing cooperation, trade and political dialogues, one of the negotiators said here Thursday after concluding their fifth round of talks.

"This morning the fifth round of dialogue between Cuba and the European Union to reach the Agreement on Political Dialogue and Cooperation was concluded," said Cuba's chief negotiator and Deputy Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno.

Both parties worked in a "respectful and professional way," Moreno said.

The sides also agreed to meet again in the second half of November in Brussels, expecting to conclude some small issues still pending on the cooperation between them, he said.

The delegations mulled their political dialogue and identified key issues to be discussed in such fields as human rights, anti-discrimination campaign, and the fight against small or light weapon trafficking, Moreno said.

"We have different approaches on human rights, immigration, and disarmament, but both sides agreed that democracy is decided upon by each country, in accordance with its historical, cultural and political experiences among other factors," he said.

Moreno stressed that Cuba and the EU converged on issues related to the fight against drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption, terrorism and human trafficking, as well as on the topics of the right to education, health, employment, energy, transport, and social protection, among others.

"There is an almost endless list of items that may allow us to expand and deepen bilateral cooperation," said the deputy minister.

Cuba is the only Latin American country that does not have a political dialogue agreement with the EU.

The bilateral relations were stagnated due to the so-called Common Position, a document adopted by the Europeans in 1996, conditioning relations with the island to the "promotion of democracy and respect for human rights."

Havana rejected these allegations, adding that it has effective systems to protect human rights, while demanding respect for its domestic affairs.

Negotiations between Cuba and the EU for the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement began in Havana on April 29, 2014. Endi