Press release - Cuba: MEPs call for EU sanctions and a push towards transition

Cuba: MEPs call for EU sanctions and a push towards transition - Call for immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners - Profound economic and political reforms needed - Step up aid to overcome the humanitarian crisis - End military cooperation with Russia and Belarus On Thursday, Parliament condemned the systematic repression carried out by the Cuban regime and demanded profound economic and political change. In a resolution approved by 283 votes to 199 and 85 abstentions, MEPs say that after five decades of a communist regime Cuba is close to being a failed state. They stress that the current humanitarian emergency -89% of families living in extreme poverty- is “not the product of any external embargo but the direct consequence of the regime's own model and failures”. End repression, release all political prisoners Noting that Cuba was holding a record 1,281 political prisoners at the end of May 2026, including minors, Parliament denounces the brutal and relentless repression as the only mechanism keeping the regime alive. MEPs demand the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and of all persons arbitrarily detained for exercising their fundamental rights, including minors, an end to torture and ill-treatment, and full reparation for the victims of torture. EU sanctions, suspension of the EU-Cuba cooperation agreement The resolution urges the EU to adopt targeted measures under the EU global human rights sanctions regime against those responsible for repression, including President Miguel Díaz-Canel, and against the leadership of GAESA, the military conglomerate controlling close to half of the island's economy. In the absence of clear steps towards democratic transition in the short term, the EU should also suspend the political dialogue and cooperation agreement, MEPs add. Towards a Cuban-led transition “The only way out of the hardship, poverty and isolation experienced by the Cuban people lies in profound economic and political change”, insist MEPs, who advocate for a full, multi-party democracy in which dissidents are not persecuted, imprisoned, tortured or murdered. They urge the Cuban regime to put forward sustainable and meaningful economic reforms and support independent economic actors and private initiatives to avoid collapse. Parliament states that any transition must be Cuban-led and include all Cubans, on the island and in the diaspora, encouraging the regime to allow those who took the painful path of exile to return without reprisals. In view of the dramatic deterioration in living conditions on the island, Parliament calls on the Commission and EU member states to develop humanitarian channels to deliver energy, food and medicine directly to the Cuban people, and urges all donors to step up humanitarian aid. Finally, MEPs criticise the Cuban regime’s material support for Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, including the recruitment of Cuban nationals to fight against Ukraine, and its deepening military cooperation with Moscow. They also condemn its alignment with the Lukashenka regime in Belarus. Contacts: - Estefanía NARRILLOS Press Officer / Editorial Coordinator (ES) - Snježana KOBEŠĆAK SMODIŠ Press Officer (HR)