A panel discussion organised by the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) and the Lech Wałęsa Institute in Brussels saw Spanish and Polish delegates reject moves by Spanish Prime Minister José Luiz Rodríguez Zapatero to rekindle relations with the dissenting Caribbean state.
Polish parliamentarians drew heavy comparisons between the situation of the people of Cuba and that of Polish citizens before 1989. Ryszard Schnepf, Poland's ambassador to Madrid, claimed that "Polish people have a special right to speak on this matter because of what we suffered. We Polish can prove that impossible things can indeed become possible".
Spanish members of the European People's Party (EPP), from the Partido Popular (PP), suggested taking lessons from Spain's peaceful democratic transition in the 1970s. "The internal dynamics are always the key. External factors can help, but are never decisive," said Jaime Mayor Oreja, EPP vice-president and leading Spanish candidate in last June's European elections.
MEPs also noticed that the Spanish Presidency's hopes of improving relations with Havana have been hindered by Cuba itself. On 3 January, Cuban airport authorities refused Spanish Socialist MEP Luis Yáñez-Barnuevo entry into the country.
The MEP, who is chairman of the European Parliament's delegation for relations with Mercosur, supports dialogue with democratic dissidents in Cuba.
EPP members defined this act as proof of the unfeasibility of the Spanish government's intentions. Yáñez-Barnuevo was himself in favour of a thaw in EU-Cuba relations, but said this would not be enough to make the island's authorities more receptive to dialogue.
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos said Cuba had made a mistake by refusing the MEP entry, but claimed that this would not hinder the proposed review of relations between the EU and the Caribbean dictatorship. "Isolation, confrontation, the embargo and the blockade [against Cuba] have produced no result in 50 years."
Spain is likely to encounter a number of procedural difficulties. Firstly, in order to abrogate the common position, it will have to reach unanimity among the 27 EU member states. This is unlikely to happen considering the opposition that the leading Polish party Platforma Obywatelska has expressed through its leading MEPs.
Secondly, with the Lisbon Treaty's entry into force, Spain's Javier Solana lost the chairmanship of the Foreign Affairs Council, which brings together the EU 27's foreign ministers, to the benefit of Catherine Asthon, the new EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs.
Spain might decide to push for relations with Cuba to be placed on the agenda, but it will not be in a position to broker an agreement.
The choice will be in the hands of High Representative Ashton. However, it is unlikely that she will spend much of her political credit on such a potentially divisive issue as EU-Cuba relations during the first period of her tenure.
