Topic: Javier Solana

Francisco Javier Solana de Madariaga, Ph.D. (born 14 July 1942 in Madrid, Spain) is the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Secretary-General of both the Council of the European Union (EU) and the Western European Union (WEU). He was named Secretary General of the 10 permanent member Western European Union in November 1999. Solana was a physicist who became a political minister for 13 years under Felipe González before serving as Secretary General of NATO from 1995 to 1999.

Since October 1999, he has served as the EU's High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy. In 2004, Solana had been designated to become the EU's Minister for Foreign Affairs for when the European Constitution was to come into force in 2009 but it was not ratified and his position has been renamed under the Treaty of Lisbon. On July 6, 2009, he announced that he will not seek another term and therefore will leave his current post as of October.

Solana comes from a well-known Spanish family, being the grand nephew of Spanish League of Nations disarmament chief, diplomat, writer and European integrationist Salvador de Madariaga (Javier's grandfather, Rogelio de Madariaga y Castro and Salvador de Madariaga were cousins). His father was a chemistry professor, Luis Solana San Martín, who died when Javier was not twenty yet. His mother, Obdulia Madariaga Pérez, died in 2005. Javier is the third of five children. His older brother Luis was once imprisoned for his political activities opposing the rule of Francisco Franco and subsequently became a distinguished leader in the Spanish telecommunications industry, and was one of the first socialist members of the Trilateral Commission.