The resolution on political repression and the humanitarian situation in Cuba passed 283 – 199 with 85 abstentions. EPP, ECR, and Renew provided the core of the majority, joined by a handful of PfE and ESN members; S&D and The Left voted against, while most of PfE abstained. The Greens/EFA also voted against. As a non-legislative own-initiative resolution, it carries no direct legal force, but it constitutes Parliament's formal political position and may press the Commission and Member States to act, or send a diplomatic signal on Cuba policy. The central cleavage of the session was over how far the text should go in criticising US sanctions. The resolution as adopted focuses on human rights violations and political repression by Cuban authorities. S&D, The Left, and Greens/EFA sought to add a series of amendments that would have explicitly condemned US executive orders of January and May 2026, called for consistent application of EU counter-sanctions law (Regulation 2271/96), denounced the humanitarian impact of the embargo, and demanded an end to US extraterritorial measures. Every one of those eleven amendments was rejected, each falling by comfortable or wide margins — ranging from 22 votes to 149 votes — as EPP, Renew, ECR, PfE, and ESN voted against. The one substantive amendment that did pass — Am 17, calling on Cuban authorities to protect human rights and guarantee peaceful assembly and free expression — was the clearest illustration of where the majority stood: it carried by 22 votes, with S&D and most Greens/EFA supporting it, while EPP largely voted against and PfE split. The rejected amendments, in contrast, all drew strong opposition from the right and centre-right. The session thus divided opinion between those who wanted the text to focus on Cuba's internal governance and those who wanted it to address US sanctions and their humanitarian consequences. Notable group-level deviations shaped the final outcome: nearly all of PfE's 58 abstentions on the final vote — led by Rassemblement national, Fidesz, and others — prevented that group's votes from counting against the resolution, contributing to the final margin. Several Renew delegations (Fianna Fáil, Progresívne Slovensko, D66, Freie Wähler) voted against the resolution's final adoption, contrary to their group's majority in favour.
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