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Havier SolanaFormer NATO Secretary General
Date of Birth: 14.07.1942
Country:  Spain |
Content:
Biography of Javier Solana
Javier Solana Madariaga, the former Secretary General of NATO, was born on July 14, 1942, in Madrid, Spain, into a liberal family. His father was a prominent scientist-chemist. Solana is the great-nephew of Salvador de Madariaga, a respected Spanish scholar who was involved in the establishment of the League of Nations and later served as Spain's ambassador to the United States and France.
Solana enrolled in the physics department at Complutense University of Madrid. However, in 1963, he was temporarily expelled from the university for opposing the Francoist regime. He continued his studies in the United Kingdom. Shortly after, Solana received a prestigious Fulbright scholarship and continued his training and work in the United States. After five years, he defended his doctoral dissertation and obtained a Ph.D. in solid-state physics. Solana is also the author of over 30 publications in the field of scientific research.
In 1964, he joined the "renewed" Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), and from 1977, Solana was elected as a member of the national parliament for five consecutive terms.
After the PSOE's leader Felipe Gonzalez became the prime minister of Spain, Solana served as the Minister of Culture from December 1982 to July 1988. Between July 1985 and July 1988, he also fulfilled the role of the official government spokesperson. In July 1988, Solana was appointed as the Minister of Education and Science.
From July 1992 to December 1995, Solana led the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Spain. During his tenure, he earned the nickname "minister of hugs and smiles" in Spain. On December 2, 1995, following unanimous approval by the North Atlantic Council, Solana was appointed as the Secretary General of NATO.
Javier Solana is fluent in three languages: Spanish (his native language), English (fluent), and French (fluent). One of his main focuses as the Secretary General of NATO was the expansion of the alliance to include countries from Central and Eastern Europe. From the beginning of his term, Solana worked on improving alliance relations with Russia, and the result of his intensive efforts in this direction was the signing of the Founding Act on May 27, 1997.
With the start of NATO's operation in Yugoslavia, Solana faced a challenging period, as disagreements among alliance countries were compounded by problems with Russia. However, even in this situation, he managed to achieve at least formal consensus within the alliance, demonstrating his flexibility and diplomatic talent. His tenure as the Secretary General ended on October 10, 1999. From October 18 onwards, Solana assumed the position of the High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union (EU). This position was established by the EU in 1999 to effectively coordinate the union's activities in the field of international relations.
