Brussels, 20/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - Hans-Gert Pottering, President of the EPP-ED group at the European Parliament, has strongly criticised the Cuban authorities for having refused entry into Cuba to two Polish Members of the EPP-ED group, Boguslav Sonik and Jacek Protasiewicz, without giving any reasons. In a press release, the CDU MEP explains that the two MEPs had wanted to attend a meeting of the assembly of Civil Society, a gathering opposing the Castro regime. Pottering said that the EPP-ED was organising a seminar in Brussels on 2 June in conjunction with the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba and had invited Cuban human rights activists to participate.
European Development Commissioner Louis Michel said the Cuban authorities' behaviour was unacceptable, adding that MEPs have the right to travel freely and attending meetings of the Cuban opposition if they believe it appropriate to do so. A spokesperson for the Commissioner said that Louis Michel was a strong supporter of political dialogue with Cuba, but that in today's world the Commissioner felt that one could not live turned in on oneself and individual freedoms can not be restricted for any length of time.
The Cuban authorities say that the two MEPs wanted to enter Cuba on a tourist visa, but for an official mission they need an official visa (which other MEPs requested but had not been granted so Marco Pannella and Emma Bonino had stayed in Europe but the two Polish MEPs had decided to try to travel to Cuba armed with their diplomatic passports). Meanwhile, German MEP Arnold Vaatz and Czech Senator Karel Schwarzenberg have been deported from Cuba, and the movements of Belgian photographer Bruno Stevens are being restricted by the Cuban authorities.