EU suspends diplomatic sanctions on Cuba.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Byline: Nancy San Martin

MIAMI _ European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday approved a six-month suspension of EU diplomatic sanctions on Cuba, in hopes of winning more releases of jailed dissidents and propelling olitical reforms.

The widely expected decision meant that top EU officials will no longer be banned from visiting the island, and that Cuban dissidents will no longer be invited to European embassy functions in Havana _ a practice in fact stopped in December.

The 25-nation bloc also, as expected, pledged to increase contacts with the dissidents and did not alter restrictions that deny Cuba access to tens of millions in EU foreign aid.

An EU statement said the decision taken by foreign ministers at their meeting in Belgium was intended to foster "a constructive dialogue with the Cuban authorities aiming at tangible results in the political, economic, human rights and cooperation sphere."

It added that human rights issues remain a top priority, demanded the "urgent" and "unconditional" release of all jailed dissidents and said that the EU would "develop more intense relations with the peaceful political opposition and broader layers of civil society in Cuba, through enhanced and more regular dialogue."

The decision "can be read as a conditional opening" because of its six-month time frame, said Joaquin Roy, director of the University of Miami's European Union Center.