Javier Solana

Javier Solana (born July 14, 1942, Madrid, Spain) is a Spanish politician who served as the ninth secretary-general (1995–99) of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He subsequently became a high-level official of the European Union (EU).

As a student in the early 1960s, Solana joined the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español; PSOE), which was an underground opposition group during the rule of fascist dictator Francisco Franco. After receiving a doctorate in physics in 1971, Solana studied in the United States as a Fulbright scholar. He served as an assistant professor (1968–71) at the University of Virginia before returning to Spain, where he eventually took a teaching position at the Complutense University of Madrid.

Solana was elected to the Spanish legislature in 1977 in the country’s first elections in democratic Spain. Along with other Socialist leaders, he opposed the existence of U.S. military bases in Spain. When the country joined NATO in 1982, Solana backed efforts to reverse its entry. His stance on NATO took a turn that same year, however, when the Socialists came into power and Solana was appointed the country’s minister for culture. From 1985 he served as the government spokesman, and in 1986 he was pivotal in organizing a referendum to endorse Spain’s membership in NATO, provided the country’s armed forces did not become involved in NATO operations. He was appointed minister for education and science in 1988 and minister for foreign affairs in 1992. In 1995, following the resignation of NATO Secretary-General Willy Claes, he was somewhat unexpectedly chosen as a compromise choice to succeed Claes. Solana became NATO’s secretary-general in December 1995.

During Solana’s tenure, NATO redefined its role in the post-Cold War era. As his term began, a peace agreement concluding the Bosnian conflict was signed in 1995, and NATO sent thousands of troops from dozens of countries into Bosnia and Herzegovina on a peacekeeping mission. The organization thus embarked on a more wide-ranging role in world affairs. When Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic joined NATO in March 1999, he guided the organization through its first enlargement since 1982. In regard to his handling of the Kosovo conflict in 1999, observers lauded Solana for maintaining a consensus among the 19 members of the alliance’s North Atlantic Council, who were often at loggerheads over how to conduct the bombing campaign. This air attack, directed at Serbian targets in the spring of 1999, was the largest ever launched by NATO in its 50 years of existence. Although the campaign successfully ended the conflict in Kosovo, Solana was criticized for the civilian casualties caused by the bombings.

In October 1999 Solana became secretary-general of the Council of the European Union and the high representative for the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. He was approved for a second five-year term to the joint offices in 2004; he stepped down in 2009. Solana also served one term as the secretary-general of the Western European Union, a European defense organization, from 1999 to 2004.