The European Union (EU) has officially put an end to sanctions against Cuba, a news release from the EU Council said in Brussels on Tuesday.

The EU reaffirmed its determination to pursue dialogue with the Cuban authorities as well as with representatives of civil society at a EU ministerial meeting, which formally abolished the five-year sanctions, in Luxembourg.

The decision to lift the sanctions on Cuba was made at an EU summit last Friday but formally endorsed by EU agriculture ministers in Luxembourg Monday.

The decision was originally planned at a foreign ministers' meeting last Thursday in Luxembourg, but it was postponed because the meeting was dominated by the issue of the reform  of Lisbon Treaty recently rejected by Irish voters.

The move was largely symbolic as the sanctions, which included restricted high-level diplomatic contacts, have been suspended since 2005 at the initiative of Spain, which normalized ties with Havana last year.

(Xinhua News Agency June 25, 2008)