Javier Solana
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dr. Javier Solana Madariaga (born July 1942) is the former Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the current European Union foreign policy chief. Born in Madrid, Spain he became a physicist, studying in both the United Kingdom and the United States before returning to Spain with Nicolás Cabrera, and becoming a Profesor of solid state physics in the Complutense University.
Having already joined the banned PSOE left-wing party in 1964, he became one of its leaders when it became legal in 1977. He became a Cabinet Minister, serving first as Minister for Culture and party spokesman, then Minister for Education, then Minister for Foreign Affairs, before being made NATO boss in December 1995, just as the Dayton agreement saw the IFOR NATO peacekeeping mission enter the former Yugoslavia. He was also involved in the Kosovo bombings, and the negotiations that led to an eventual peace.
