The United States on Friday removed Cuba from its blacklist as a state sponsor of terrorism, in a landmark move aimed at paving the way towards normalizing ties frozen for half a century.

US President Barack Obama had notified Congress that he intended to remove Havana from the list, giving lawmakers 45 days to object, which elapsed Friday.

Now Secretary of State John Kerry "has made the final decision to rescind Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, effective today, May 29, 2015," the State Department said in a statement.