The European Union moved to end a diplomatic row with Cuba on Monday by suspending a policy of inviting dissidents to national day celebrations at its Havana embassies in protest at the island's human rights record. The so-called "cocktail war" blew up when Europe decided to invite opponents of the communist government to embassy parties in protest at a crackdown on dissent on the island in 2003. President Fidel Castro snubbed European diplomats in return.

"All measures taken on June 5, 2003 have been temporarily suspended," Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn of Luxembourg, holder of the rotating EU presidency, told a news conference.

"The (EU) Council expressed its will to hold a constructive dialogue with Cuba with a view to getting tangible results on economic, political matters and human rights," he added.

The EU move to suspend the invitations was widely expected after Castro released political prisoners and restored diplomatic ties with eight EU states earlier this month. Asselborn said the suspension would be reviewed before July in the light of progress in human rights and political reforms on the island, and the EU would widen its dialogue with figures in the Cuban opposition and civil society.

Copyright Reuters, 2005