The European Union is considering a shift in policy toward Cuba that would get it back on speaking terms with President Fidel Castro's government, diplomats said. EU policy-makers will meet on Tuesday in Brussels to discuss whether to stop inviting dissidents to National Day receptions in Havana, a practice that so incensed the Cuban government it shut its doors to European diplomats. Spain and Britain believe the diplomatic freeze, in which ambassadors are shunned and telephone calls are not returned, has led to a dead-end that runs counter to EU interests in Cuba. "I think the policy will change by the end of the year," one European diplomat said. "There is a mood for change, provided we can get it right." "We are in limbo. The freeze makes it hard for us to do what we should be doing here, which is prepare for a post-Castro transition," he said. The issue has divided the 25-country EU. Germany and the Netherlands, as well as several new members from Central Europe that lived under Soviet communism, oppose changes in policy without an improvement in Cuba's rights record. The attempt to restore political dialogue with Havana was begun by Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of Spain, the EU country with most trade, cultural and historical ties to Cuba, its former colony. --more 1434 Local Time 1134 GMT
