Associated Press
Friday, June 20, 2008

BRUSSELS, June 19 -- The European Union on Thursday agreed to lift its diplomatic sanctions against Cuba but imposed tough conditions on the communist island nation, officials said.

E.U. External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the bloc felt it had to encourage changes in Cuba after Raul Castro took over as the head of the country's government from his ailing brother, Fidel.

"There will be very clear language also on what the Cubans still have to do . . . releasing prisoners, really working on human rights questions," she told reporters at an E.U. summit here. "There will be a sort of review to see whether indeed something will have happened."

The E.U. decision does not affect the United States' trade embargo, imposed on Cuba nearly 50 years ago, which the Bush administration has shown no signs of lifting.