"No" to EU until sanctions dropped.

Cuba has rejected calls from the European Union for negotiations to improve relations and said talks can only happen when the EU scraps sanctions imposed on the island in 2003, reports Reuters (June 23, 2007). Cuba also sent a stern warning to the EU for suggesting that political change on the island might be on the horizon, insisting that Cuba's one-party state is united and firmly in control of the country:

The EU reached out to Cuba inviting a Cuban delegation to Brussels to explore a gradual thaw in ties. It said the temporary transfer of power from Fidel Castro to his younger brother Raul--the first such transfer since 1959--constituted a "new situation." Cuba-EU relations soured in 2003 after Brussels imposed a freeze on diplomatic contacts with Havana after the arrest of 75 Cuban dissidents. The EU eased restrictions on some lower-level contacts in 2005 and Spain is leading a push to fully normalize relations. But the Spanish campaign has met resistance, notably from the ex-communist Czech Republic, which insisted the EU remain tough on demands that Cuba improve its human rights practices;

The 27-member EU invited Cuba to talk on the condition that it agree to discuss human rights. It also urged Cuba to release all political prisoners and implement economic and political reforms. Cuba rejected those calls and criticized the EU for meddling in its internal affairs. Independent rights groups in Cuba estimate that about 280 dissidents are in prison. Cuba dismisses those claims and says there are no political prisoners on the island, only "mercenaries" on the payroll of its longtime ideological foe, the United States.