Madrid - The European Union should "normalize" its relations with Cuba, a Spanish senior official said Thursday, ahead of his country taking the bloc's rotating presidency on January 1. Spain would like the EU to have similar relations with Cuba as with other countries that are not fully democratic, said Secretary of State for the EU Diego Lopez Garrido - whose country will hold the rotating EU presidency in the first half of 2010.
The EU should have "normal" commercial links with Cuba, like it had association agreements with other countries, Lopez Garrido said.
Spain wants to modify the EU's current position on Cuba, which links relations to democracy and respect for human rights on the Caribbean island.
Some EU countries, which are critical of such changes, have asked Madrid to clarify how it intends to conduct the common policy on Cuba during its EU presidency.
