Paris, May 18 (RHC)-- The Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Audrey Azoulay, received Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez on Friday in Paris.

According to diplomatic sources, during the meeting held at the headquarters of the organization, Rodriguez and Azoulay discussed the state of bilateral ties, the challenges and the future of UNESCO, and the importance of the organization´s mandate, especially on sustainable development.

The Cuban foreign minister concluded his stopover in Paris and his European tour with a meeting with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian in which they talked about their interest to expand the bilateral political-diplomatic dialogue and recognized the existing potential to deepen economic, commercial, investment, university, scientific-technical and cultural, and sports ties.

The top Cuban diplomat's tour took him initially to Brussels, where he headed the first Joint Cuba-European Union Council, together with the head of the regional bloc's diplomacy, Federica Mogherini.

Then he traveled to Geneva to present the national report before the third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council, where he described the progress on the field achieved by island.