FINLAND: CUBA LIBERTAD ACT REVIEW

C O N F I D E N T I A L HELSINKI 001203 SIPDIS PLEASE PASS TO WHA/CCA, EUR/NB E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/15/2015 TAGS: ETRD ETTC PREL CU FI SUBJECT: FINLAND: CUBA LIBERTAD ACT REVIEW REF: HELSINKI 587 Classified By: POLOFF DAVID ALLEN SCHLAEFER FOR REASON 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. (C) Poloff spoke with officials in the Office for Caribbean and Central American Affairs at Finland's MFA and confirmed that there have been no changes in Finland's policy toward Cuba since Reftel was drafted in May. There have been no high-level contacts between Finnish and Cuban officials in the past six months. Finland does not have an Embassy in Havana and has little direct contact with the Cuban Government. There is no direct bilateral assistance from Finland to Cuba. Finland supports and will continue to support the EU common position on Cuba. ¶2. (U) Finland's Customs Agency reports the following level of trade with Cuba from January-August 2005: Imports: 917,000 Euro Exports: 2.4 million Euro Imports from Cuba are down 90% from 2004; exports are down 27%. HYATT