Europe willing to 'support change' in Cuba: EU presidency

(MADRID) - The European Union is "willing to support change" in Cuba, a Spanish newspaper quoted German Foreign Minister and current EU president Frank-Walter Steinmeier as saying on Sunday.

Steinmeier told Catalan daily El Periodico the issue of future EU relations with Cuba would be raised at the next Council of the European Union meeting.

Spain, which has spearheaded efforts to revive EU-Cuba relations hurt by Havana's jailing of 75 dissidents in 2003, decided to renew its ties with the island earlier this month.

"This step forward ... is not an affront to the EU in general and the German presidency in particular," Steinmeier said, adding that Spain would write up a report on the subject for its European partners.

"I am convinced that we (the EU members) will adopt agreements where it will be clear that the EU as an organisation is willing to support change" on the island, Steinmeier said.

"It is possible that the young generations of Cuban politicians, who have had access to power, will move the country towards opening. There are some signs in this direction," he added.