POLES SKEPTICAL ABOUT CUBAN INTEREST IN EU DIALOGUE

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 000870 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/21/2018 TAGS: EUN CU PGOV PREL PHUM SUBJECT: POLES SKEPTICAL ABOUT CUBAN INTEREST IN EU DIALOGUE REF: SECSTATE 74378 Classified By: Political Counselor F. Daniel Sainz for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) PolCouns told the MFA's Deputy Director for American Affairs Daniel Gromann (who served as Polish Charge D'affaires in Havana from 2005-2007) that the U.S. welcomes the US-EU Summit declaration's call for the unconditional release of all political prisoners in Cuba. He urged the GoP to help develop a new EU Common Position if the Cuban Government rejects the EU's call for dialogue with the GoC. ¶2. (C) Gromann suggested that the EU will not conclude that Cuba has formally rejected dialogue with the EU until such a dialogue is formally offered. However, he predicted that the French Presidency of the EU is unlikely to make a formal offer, fearing it will be rejected. In the past, Gromann noted, the GoC has not responded positively to informal offers of a dialogue. ¶3. (C) Gromann noted that recent EU measures relating to the GoC have included both carrots and sticks. The 2005 sanctions were rescinded, but the EU has incorporated tougher language than before in the form of the benchmarks for dialogue with Cuba. However, Gromann said recent COLAT meetings in Brussels have been extremely confusing, with much debate focusing on the applicability of the 2006 Common Position, since the EU was required to review the Common Position in 2007 but failed to do so. ¶4. (U) Post will continue to look for opportunities to discuss EU policies toward CUBA with local government officials, human rights activists and others. ASHE