Czech foreign minister - Thaw in relations with Cuba does not mean

Czech foreign minister: Thaw in relations with Cuba does not mean Prague
will abandon human rights agenda
03-05-2016 14:08 | Daniela Lazarová

A thaw in diplomatic relations between the Czech Republic and Cuba
should soon see the two countries appointing ambassadors and reviving
trade ties that go back half a century. Czech government officials
stress that the "renaissance" in bilateral relations does not mean that
Prague will in future abandon the human rights agenda in negotiations
with Havana.
The fall of communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989 brought decades of
communist brotherhood with Cuba to an abrupt end and Prague became one
of the staunchest defenders of human rights on the island. Relations
turned frosty and in 1993 diplomatic ties were downgraded to charge
d'affaires level as the two countries traded insults, Havana calling
Prague a lackey of the US. In 2001 a Czech MP and student leader were
briefly jailed by the Cuban regime after contacting members of the
opposition and four years later then-senator Karel Schwarzenberg was
expelled from the country for the same reason. The Czech Republic
continued to support the Cuban dissent and was a vocal advocate of
sanctions against the Castro regime.
However in the past twelve months bilateral relations have mirrored the
gradual thaw in Cuba's relations with the US and the EU. In the autumn
of last year Prague sent a trade mission to Cuba to re-establish
business contacts and capitalize on the good reputation of the "Made in
Czechoslovakia" label in Cuba. Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek:
"The continuity in business relations was never completely severed. So
it is not like we are back to square one. There are areas of cooperation
where we will simply pick up on our long-standing business ties and in
other areas we can make use of new opportunities. The important thing is
that Czech businesses are interested in the Cuban market and were
waiting for the door to open."
Both sides have expressed interest in boosting trade and developing
closer cooperation in the spheres of culture, science and education.
According to the foreign minister the ground has been prepared to take
diplomatic relations to a new level and the two countries should appoint
ambassadors within a matter of months. In an interview for Radio Prague
Foreign Minister Zaorálek said this does not mean that Prague will
abandon the human rights agenda in negotiations.
"We made it quite clear in negotiations with Havana that the principles
which have governed our foreign policy in the past remain unchanged,
that we remain committed to human rights issues and want contacts with
all parts of Cuban society, including the opposition. At the same time
the agreement between the EU and Cuba gives us a new platform on which
to raise human rights issues."
In 2014 the two countries' turnover exceeded 600 million crowns. The
leading Czech export commodities to Cuba were electrical machinery,
turbines, motorcycles, grains, dairy products and pharmaceuticals while
it imported tobacco, coffee, cocoa and fish.

Source: Radio Prague - Czech foreign minister: Thaw in relations with
Cuba does not mean Prague will abandon human rights agenda -
http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/czech-foreign-minister-thaw-in-relations-with-cuba-does-not-mean-prague-will-abandon-human-rights-agenda