Cuba, Ireland will strengthen relations, says President Diaz-Canel

The president of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel, expressed confidence today that his first official visit to Ireland will help strengthen and expand relations with this European nation.

'We have felt a warm welcome upon our arrival in beautiful Ireland. We are sure that bilateral relations will strengthen and expand,' the president wrote in his Twitter account, @DiazCanelB, shortly after arriving in this capital.

The Head of State was received at the airport tarmac by the local Foreign Ministry's Protocol Director, Emma Madigan, and the official welcome will take place on Monday when he meets his Irish peer, Michael Higgings.

As part of his agenda, Diaz-Canel and his entourage are visiting sites of historical and cultural interest on Sunday.

During his two-day stay in Dublin, the first stopover of a European tour that will also take him to Belarus, Russia and Azerbaijan, the Cuban President will also pay a courtesy visit to Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.

Diaz-Canel is traveling with Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, Foreign Trade Minister Rodrigo Malmierca, and the director of the European Department of the Cuban Foreign Ministry, Alba Soto.

The Cuban delegation will wind up the European tour in Baku where the President and the accompanying officials will attend the Summit of the Non Aligned Movement.