Steinmeier to Be First German Foreign Minister to Visit Cuba Since 1970s

Frank-Walter Steinmeier will be the first German foreign minister to pay a visit to Cuba since the reunification of East and West Germany, German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer said Wednesday.

BERLIN (Sputnik) – Steinmeier plans to visit Cuba on July 16-17, to develop bilateral ties between the two countries and to hold meetings with high-ranking Cuban officials.

"I think that this visit of Steinmeier is quite unusual. The Head of German Ministry of International Affairs have never visited Cuba, except the representatives of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) that visited the island in the 1970s," Schaefer said at a press conference.

The visit of Steinmeier is being scheduled amid a thaw in relations between Cuba and the West.