Havana, May 26, 2023.- An affectionate greeting, words marked by closeness and naturalness began this Friday afternoon, from the Palace of the Revolution, to the meeting that took place between the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Vice President of the European Commission.
The Cuban President told the person who arrived on the island this Wednesday to carry out an official visit that it was a pleasure to receive him as a high representative of the European Union. "We give a lot of significance to this visit," said the dignitary.
Díaz-Canel Bermúdez told Josep Borrell that "visits like these, which have had an intense agenda, a broad program in various areas, allow us to get to know each other better." And he stressed that events like these contribute a lot to all the development that the implementation of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement has had, which since 2017 has been working very intensively.
"We are very satisfied with the moment in which we are implementing this Agreement with the European Union," said the Head of State, who did not overlook the fact that whenever relations between Cuba and Europe are analyzed, historical ties and cultural between both parts; which, he said, "are a pillar to facilitate in the present, and also in the perspective sense, the deepening of all our relationships in different areas."
The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba assessed: “Today, both in the political-diplomatic field and in the field of cooperation, there is a path that has been ordered and that is giving results; and I believe that the potential for the future is vast”.
He then recognized the understanding that the European Union has had of the situation that Cuba is going through, and how the cooperation projects have been maintained.
These are projects - Díaz-Canel emphasized to the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy - that "are contributing a lot to the economic and social development of our country."
In the same line of thought, the president wanted to recognize "the support that the European Union has given to Cuba in the fight against the blockade," and the explicit position of that organization in its rejection of the inclusion of the Caribbean nation in the list of countries sponsoring terrorism.
For all of the above, President Díaz-Canel Bermúdez commented to Josep Borrell Fontelles that the Cuban government attaches "enormous significance" to this visit: "I believe, argued the dignitary, that it is another moment that marks a milestone in the deepening of the relations between Cuba and the European Union”.
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Vice President of the European Commission, then expressed his hope that, as appreciated by the Cuban president, this trip be perceived very positively by the host government and by Cuban society.
Borrell Fontelles ratified the desire to continue promoting the implementation of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement within the European Union, taking into account the characteristics of each of its Member States. And he was emphatic:
«I have to make an effort to maintain the unity of all in the vote in the United Nations against the blockade, which we have achieved so far; and I have to make an effort so that everyone understands that including Cuba on the list of countries that support terrorism is outrageous and has no justification.”
Before the exchange began at the Palace of the Revolution, Borrell Fontelles had commented to the president on the rich day lived by him since his arrival in the Caribbean country. Also present at the meeting with him were Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, ambassador of the European Union in Cuba; Javier Niño Pérez, Deputy Director for the Americas, at the European External Action Service; Pelayo Castro Zuzuárregui, Senior Advisor to the High Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean; as well as Leonhard Kuntzle, co-secretary of the Joint Council, and official of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union.
On the Cuban side were present the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba (Minrex), Anayansi Rodríguez Camejo; the Director General a.i. Bilateral Affairs, Ángel Villa Hernández; the director of Europe and Canada of the Minrex, Gisela García Rivera; as well as the ambassador of Cuba in the Kingdom of Belgium and before the European Union, Yaira Jiménez Roig.
(Cubaminrex-Presidency)