Brussels, Belgium.- The European Union (EU) has expressed its deep regret this Thursday at the application by the United States of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act against Cuba, considering it contrary to international law.

For the EU, the extraterritorial application of unilateral restrictive measures contravenes international law and will therefore use all appropriate measures to address the consequences, including its rights in the World Trade Organization and the use of the EU’s Blocking Statute.

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, stated in a statement she will continue working with her international partners, ‘who have also expressed concern about this’. Referring to Washington’s decision to allow claims in U.S. courts over ‘confiscated’ property (as they call the nationalizations of the Cuban Revolution), she asserted that ‘it is a violation of the commitments assumed in the 1997 and 1998 EU-U.S. agreements,’ which have been respected ‘without interruption’ ever since.

‘This will cause unnecessary friction and undermine the confidence and predictability of the transatlantic partnership’, Mogherini said.

With the activation of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, a section widely rejected nationally and abroad, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is currently implementing another hostile measure against Cuba.

The controversial legislation, approved by the U.S. Congress in 1996, codifies the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by Washington almost 60 years ago against Cuba and stresses the extraterritorial nature of that blockade.