Solana Madariaga, Javier

▪ 2000

      In March 1999 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in an effort to put a halt to atrocities committed by Serbian troops against ethnic Albanians in the province of Kosovo, began a bombing campaign directed at Serbian targets. The air attack was the largest ever launched by NATO in its 50 years of existence. Ironically, the man at the helm of NATO during its controversial attack was Secretary-General Javier Solana, who, less than 20 years earlier, had fought doggedly to keep his native Spain from associating itself with the alliance.

      Solana was born on July 14, 1942, in Madrid. As a student in the early 1960s he joined the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, which was an underground operation during the rule of fascist dictator Francisco Franco. After receiving his doctorate in physics, Solana studied in the U.S. 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 Complutensean University in Madrid.

      Solana was elected to the parliament in 1977, two years after Franco's death. 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 that move. His stance on the issue 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. Once a vocal opponent of the alliance, Solana became NATO's ninth secretary-general.

      On Solana's watch, NATO redefined its role in the post–Cold War era. As his term began, NATO sent 60,000 troops from 30 countries into Bosnia and Herzegovina on a peacekeeping mission, and the organization 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 situation, 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.

Anthony G. Craine

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