Brussels - The European Union and Cuba aim to strengthen diplomatic ties during a visit to Brussels on Monday by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, EU officials confirmed Wednesday.

The discussions between Rodriguez Parilla and the EU's top officials will be "open to any subject", John Clancy, spokesman for Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel, told reporters in Brussels.

The meeting will be the second of its kind since EU leaders agreed in June to lift its diplomatic sanctions against Cuba in an effort to encourage its leader, Raul Castro, to boost human rights.

The first such meeting took place in Paris in October, while Commissioner Michel visited Havana during the same month.

The lifting of the sanctions, which included limits on high-level government visits and the role of EU diplomats in Cuba's cultural events, was largely symbolic, since the bloc had already suspended them in 2005.

"The meeting will be part of a political dialogue underway at present," said Clancy.

While in Brussels, Rodriguez Parrilla will be expected to meet officials from the EU executive as well as from the bloc's Czech presidency.