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Cuba, EU confirm willingness to strengthen ties

Xinhua, March 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

Cuban President Raul Castro and European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Friday confirmed the two sides' willingness to continue strengthening bilateral relations on the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual respect.

During a meeting in Havana, they congratulated each other for the signing of an agreement on Friday to normalize Cuba-EU relations 13 years after the unilateral suspension of ties by the EU.

EU and Cuban officials signed the agreement in Havana during a visit by Mogherini following nearly two years of intense negotiations between the two sides that also touched upon the thorny issue of human rights -- the one that prompted the EU to unilaterally suspend ties in 2003.

Cuban deputy foreign minister Abelardo Moreno and the EU negotiator Christian Leffler signed the deal at a ceremony chaired by the island's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and Mogherini.

"This is a historic day for bilateral relations," Mogherini said, while calling on the United States to lift its decades-long embargo on Cuba.

The agreement is subject to ratification by the governments of the EU bloc and Cuba. Once implemented, it will allow for full economic cooperation and the delivery of aid to Cuba. Endi