EU warns U.S. against exposing EU firms in Cuba

Reuters
A worker adjusts European Union and U.S. flags at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels November 11, 2013. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/Files

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union on Wednesday reiterated its opposition to European firms and citizens being caught out by U.S. sanctions on Cuba, calling on Washington to adhere to a 1998 agreement to grant a consistent waiver for EU companies and citizens.

"The EU reiterates a strong opposition to the extraterritorial application of unilateral restrictive measures which is considers contrary to international law," a spokesman for the EU executive told a briefing in Brussels.

The EU has serious concerns over the decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the practice of suspending on a rotating six-month basis a section of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act that would allow such suits, principally from Cuban-Americans.

(Reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel and Clare Roth; Editing by)