Francois Hollande arrived in Havana on Sunday, the first French president to visit Cuba in more than a century, cementing France's lead in the EU rapprochement with the island.

Hollande is the first Western leader to visit Cuba since a surprise announcement in December by Havana and Washington that the former Cold War foes would move to normalize relations after half a century of bad blood.

Hollande arrived at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport at 10:50 pm local time (10:50 am Monday, China time) to begin the latest leg of a whirlwind five-day tour of the Caribbean. Hollande was greeted by Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Rogelio Sierra.