Watchman Newsletter

Europe’s Dangerous Precedent

The Trumpet (Link) - Ron Fraser (January 10, 2011)

Last November, France and the United Kingdom signed a joint defense agreement. It comprises two treaties covering the joint deployment of both countries’ armed forces, the combining of equipment and communications, and nuclear deterrence.

This has set a precedent that Berlin and Brussels are eager to exploit. The UK-France defense pact will now have a domino effect on other European Union member nations as EU elites move aggressively to shape a combined European defense structure. They will use the EU-France precedent to push EU member states into a series of similar alliances designed to merge EU nations’ fighting forces into a pan-European defense structure under a single centralized high command.

“Implemented correctly, these treaties could become a hopeful precedent for the entire European Union,” former EU foreign-policy chief Javier Solana recently stated. “By transcending strictly national limits, these treaties chart the future path of European defense” (New Europe, January 3; emphasis mine throughout).

The interdependence of countries is inescapable

Gulf Times (Link) - Javier Solana (September 10, 2010)

The world financial crisis has served as a quick and efficient catalyst to the G-20. The first three G-20 summits of chiefs of state, in Washington, London, and Pittsburgh, will be remembered for advancing multilateralism and coordinated global action. But the G-20 remains very much a work in progress – and one that needs much work to succeed, as its most recent summit in Toronto demonstrated.

The G-20 summit in Washington in 2008 was the first at which the member countries’ chiefs of state met since the group’s creation in 1997. The G-8 was no longer an appropriate vehicle for global economic governance, given the need to stabilise financial markets around the world. The voices of countries such as China, India, and Brazil had to be heard if a coordinated response to the crisis was to be found.

With the financial crisis worsening, the London summit in 2009 agreed to unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus and backed a stronger, more coherent regulatory and supervisory framework worldwide. In view of the G-20’s success, the Pittsburgh summit recognised it as the main forum for international economic co-operation.

Barack Obama’s relationship with Europe ‘not living up to its potential’

Telegraph UK (Link) (July 15, 2010)

Mr Barroso believes that the relationship with the White House and the EU has been affected by disagreements on how to tackle the global economic crisis, as well as climate change and trade reform.

In an interview with The Times, Mr Barroso said the US should reach out to Europe, calling on a “mutual” relationship.

“The transatlantic relationship is not living up to its potential. I think we should do much more together. We have conditions like we have never had before and it would be a pity if we missed the opportunity.”

US officials have defended the relationship, arguing that when Mr Obama entered office, “expectations were probably so high that they could not have been met when you look at the European response to the election.”

Hugo Brady, of the Centre for European Reform, said: “Obama was always overblown as a symbol because US foreign policy interests tend not to change. The US does not understand the need for everyone to be around the table at the EU, which they find as frustrating as a mini-UN where people want to talk about the good things they have done.”

Richard Haas, head of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Washington think-tank, told the newspaper that the EU lacks someone of stature to negotiate with, in reference to the appointments of Herman Van Rompuy as President of the European Council and Baroness Ashton as High Representative for Foreign Affairs.

“Europe created these posts to speak for the collective as a whole. But from the perspective of many Americans, rather than building up someone of the stature of [the former Nato Secretary-General] Javier Solana, it looks as though Europe has retreated,” he said.

Spain PM mulls reshuffle to calm markets - media

Forexyard (Link) - Reuters: Judy MacInnes & Manuel Ruiz (June 21, 2010)

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is considering a cabinet reshuffle following a parliamentary vote on labour market reform, media reported, with his economy and labour ministers possible casualties.

However, a source familiar with the cabinet process questioned the logic of any imminent changes so soon after the IMF had backed the Socialist government’s policies, despite concerns about Spain’s long-term solvency.

La Ser radio said on Monday that Zapatero was mulling a reshuffle to restore financial markets’ confidence in his minority government and reassure them that Spain does not need a Greek-style bailout.

Various weekend press reports, citing unnamed sources, said Zapatero could announce changes to his cabinet as early as the next few days, once parliament has ratified on Tuesday the labour reforms aimed at restoring economic health.

Price of peace, unity in Europe

The News Herald (Link) - Georgie Anne Geyer (May 5, 2010)

The last time I visited the European Union offices in Brussels its top official quickly got to the core underlying hope for the unity of Europe in this era.

“After this, we will have no more wars,” the impressive Spaniard Javier Solana stated firmly, but also with a touch of wonder, “because our states will simply be too intertwined for that to be possible.”

Unquestionably, that single noble thought captured the passion behind the determination of many post-World War II Europeans who, since the 1950s, had patiently hammered out the principles and institutions of a united Europe. And today, their accomplishments, with 27 members in the EU and 16 members in the eurozone, are impressive indeed.

But now, as has so often happened throughout history, one of the smallest parts of the union is threatening to tear the entire magnificent weave apart. The miscreant, of course, is Greece, a country whose tax collectors have never quite matched its restaurateurs in cleverness.

And, irony of ironies, it is big, industrial, tax-paying Germany — the country whose larger depredations in the war formed precisely that postwar generation of Europeans — that the union would like to leave with the bill.

Solana: “Failure can be the beginning of a success of tomorrow”

Basler Zeitung (Link) - Von Luciano Ferrari & Richard Diethelm (April 30, 2010)

Translated from German by Google translate: He is regarded as Europe’s answer to Henry Kissinger: top diplomat Javier Solana to the new world order, for euro-crisis and the affair between Switzerland and Libya.

Javier Solana welcomes the conversation in a salon of the Geneva Villa Plantamour. Through the open windows penetrate the glistening light from the nearby lake, and bird song from the old trees in the park surrounding this relaxed atmosphere set in the first time rebel leaders and representatives of the government at a table at ways to bring peace to Burundi by Hutu and Tutsi explore. Since then met at the villa on Lake secretly opponent in many other conflicts. The terrain was preparing each of the Henri Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (CHD before). Founded in 1999, non-governmental organization has its headquarters here. It comes into action when the traditional forms of mediation have failed.

Among the approximately 70 employees, many former diplomats. You have direct access to foreign ministries and heads of state around the world. Currently, CHD-mediator in 14 active conflicts, so in the Philippines, Burma, East Timor, Somalia, Kenya, Central African Republic and Sudan. The activities in other countries, considers the center a secret out of consideration to the rival camp. Javier Solana in early March became the honorary chair of the CHD. He also teaches at the London School of Economics and head of the department for foreign policy research at the renowned U.S. think tank The Brookings Institution.

Hutaree Suspected Former NATO Chief of Being the Antichrist

Newsweek (Link) - Mark Hosenball (March 31, 2010)

The Hutaree Militia of southern Michigan, whose recently arrested leader and members consider themselves to be Christian warriors, evidently feared that a little-known (to most Americans) European politician and bureaucrat might be the antichrist. A lengthy posting on the Hutaree.com Web site, headlined “10 Horns of the European Super State; Mr. Europe and 7 years of peace in Israel,” discusses at length—exhaustive length—a theory that Javier Solana, the former secretary-general of NATO and also a former senior official of the European Union, could be the antichrist. Part of the evidence for this notion, which seems to be popular among millennialist Christians and militia adherents, is the fact that most Americans have never heard of Solana—the reason for this being, according to the treatise’s author, a conspiratorial “media blackout” on Solana’s existence and activities.

The far-right American theory about Solana’s secret identity is news to European diplomats who are familiar with Solana’s lengthy and distinguished career, first as a Spanish government official and subsequently as an international bureaucrat. “I think they’ve got the wrong man,” says Anthony Smallwood, chief spokesman for the European Union’s Washington diplomatic mission. “Mr. Solana has now retired and is an elderly private gentleman. This is quite insane.” He adds that Solana used to make regular trips to Washington in the course of his work for NATO and the EU but “took few precautions” to ensure his personal security. (Earlier this week, Solana was reported to have been traveling in the former Soviet republic of Georgia with former U.S. deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott).

Javier Solana joins Brookings

Politico (Link) - Laura Rozen (February 9, 2010)

Washington will have an important new resource as it moves into the tough pressure stage of its Iran policy.

The top European nuclear negotiator with Iran for the past several years, Javier Solana, is joining the Brookings Institution as a distinguished senior fellow.

Solana, former NATO Secretary General and EU high rep for foreign and security policy, will advise Brookings’ Foreign Policy program, headed by Martin Indyk, and the Global Economy and Development program, headed by former UNDP chief Kemal Dervish.

“We are extremely pleased to have Dr. Solana with us,” a Brookings hand writes. . . .

“We are deeply honored that Dr. Solana has agreed to join Brookings and look forward to benefiting from his vast experience dealing with the world’s most critical challenges,” Brookings’ President Strobe Talbott said in a subsequent statement. “With his many years of outstanding service as Europe’s leading diplomat and as leader of NATO ... he has been a major figure on the world stage who has showed extraordinary leadership on such international crises as the Yugoslav and Kosovo Wars and the efforts to bring peace to the Middle East and curb Iran’s nuclear program.”

Solana will be based in Spain and travel frequently to Washington.

Veteran Spanish Diplomat Receives His Country’s Highest Honor

Latin American Herald Tribune (Link) (January 22, 2010)

King Juan Carlos has conferred the Order of the Golden Fleece, Spain’s highest honor, on Javier Solana, a former NATO chief and top foreign policy representative for the European Union, a spokesman for the royal palace said Thursday.

Also receiving the distinction was the director of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language, Victor Garcia de la Concha.

Solana, who was NATO secretary-general from 1995-1999 before serving for a decade as the EU foreign policy chief, was recognized for his work on behalf of Spain and Europe.

Javier Solana joins ESADE Business School

ESADE (Link) (December 15, 2009)

Javier Solana, who for the last ten years has been the European Union's High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, has chosen to join ESADE Business School as President of its new Centre for Global Economics and Geopolitics, in the new year.

Having left academia to pursue his political career, during which he has been Minister of Culture, Minister of Education and Science, and Minister of Foreign Affairs in Spain, Secretary General of NATO and held a number of high ranking positions in the EU, Javier Solana will take on a research and teaching role in ESADE.

The new ESADE Centre for Global Economics and Geopolitics, over which Javier Solana will preside, will focus on the evolution of global society, analysing the global economy, corporate leadership and good practice in public policy, among other areas. "In joining ESADE, I am becoming part of an institution of excellence and academic rigor" says Solana, "we hope to set up what will become an international reference for the generation of new ideas essential for the future of global society as a whole." Solana also commented that he aims to establish relationships with other international centres of excellence that will support this goal.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Solana Quietly Steps Down

Sofia News Agency (Link) (December 1, 2009)

Javier Solana has retired from his position as the EU foreign relations chief as the Lisbon Treaty comes into effect, leaving his successor a mixed legacy.

He has long been acknowledged as a master of quiet international diplomacy. In the 10 years he spent in the job, he transformed the EU’s common security and foreign policies, building up a body of military experts and diplomats who coordinate the work of over 20 crisis relief missions in places from Kosovo to the Gulf of Aden.

He had personally acted as the EU’s spokesman and negotiator in some 600 delegations. With limited support from EU member states, he relied on his personal charm and energy to win the confidence of leaders in Balkan, post-Soviet and Middle Eastern countries.

Human rights campaigners, however, have had reservations about Solana’s achievements. He had been criticized for concentrating on conflict resolution in Europe and the Middle east at the expense of problems in China and Russia. He had even been accused of being too pragmatic in the face of power.

In his time as NATO chief, Solana agreed to the bombing of Serbia in 1999. He supported the Iraq war in 2003, and in 2005 blocked an EU campaign to refer Sudan to the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

Human Rights Watch advocate Lotte Leicht has assessed Solana’s human rights record as mixed. “In terms of quiet diplomacy, he has probably performed quite well. But in terms of public diplomacy, he has not,” she has stated.

Commentators and critics have already begun to speculate on how Solana’s successor, the little-known Catherine Ashton, will carry out her new role. They agree, however, that Solana will be a tough act to follow.

Javier Solana talks about the Middle East

Euronews (Link) - Sergio Cantone (November 23, 2009) Video of interview at link

Javier Solana has been the EU’s “Mr Diplomacy” for more than ten years. But now he is handing the job over to Catherine Ashton, the recently- appointed High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy.

Javier Solana took office in June 1999 just a few days after the end of the Kosovo war, during which he had been NATO’s Secretary General.

Trying to give the EU a bigger say in resolving the conflicts in the Middle East – from Gaza and the West Bank, to Iran – has always been one of his top priorities.

Sergio Cantone, euronews: Javier Solana, outgoing high representative for foreign and security policy, welcome to euronews. What do you think about the recent appointments of the top-jobs of the European Union. Do you think that this is up-grading the role of the EU on the world stage?

Javier Solana. Outgoing EU Foreign Policy Chief: I happen to know both, the president and the high representative, well. You are talking about the high representative, Catherine Ashton, I know her well from some years back and I have followed her the last period of time here in Brussels, where she had a very important portfolio in the commission, trade. There is no doubt that today the economic component of the foreign policy, the trade dossier, is a very important one. It’s true that the other parts of the foreign policy dossier, the crisis management is going to be at the heart of the job, but this something that you learn as you learn some other things.

The End of a Theory? — What Holly Thinks

Fulfilled Prophecy (Link) - Holly Pivec (November 22, 2009)

Last week — after 10 years as the EU foreign minister — Javier Solana was replaced by a successor, signaling what appears to be his inevitable exit from this powerful post. Is this news the death knell of my father’s theory?

It could be. With Solana out of the picture, it would appear that the European Neighbourhood Policy — which he crafted — would be disqualified as the fulfillment of the prophecy about the Antichrist’s confirmation of a “covenant with many” nations (Daniel 9:27). This would mean that my father — and all of us who followed his research — may have been barking up the wrong tree.

Yet the question remains: Is Solana really out of the picture?

It’s too early to dismiss him just yet. The person appointed to succeed Solana is the EU Trade Commissioner British Catherine Ashton. Ashton, however, still needs the approval of the EU Parliament — which is in no way guaranteed. Many Europeans have criticized her lack of qualifications for the influential post.

Until she is approved, Solana will continue in his role.

Javier Solana Resigning From Top EU Foreign Job

Huliq News (Link) - Armen Hareyan (November 19, 2009) Video

As the EU leaders start their summit to select top three jobs Javier Solana, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs is stepping down. He says he is a convinced European and after being on the position for 15 years he thinks the position has to change as EU is turning a new chapter ahead of very exciting changes.

This man has been the face of the EU for about about 15 years. Solana says he will work for the same European ideals from a different position. He will give advise to the new EU top foreign minister, but not in public, rather in private, sharing his experience.

Javier Solana: I am not yet ready for retirement

Interfax (Link) (November 17, 2009)

Question: The Lisbon Treaty is going to enter into force very soon now. What is in your opinion the decisive importance of this document? If its benefit so evident - why this long and difficult process of ratification?

Answer: An European Union with 27 Member States cannot work the same way as an EU with fifteen Member States, like we were only five years ago. The Lisbon Treaty will from December 1 allow the EU to work in a much more efficient and coherent manner. There were indeed some obstacles in the ratification process. Taking decisions with 27 Member States is not an easy thing and the Lisbon Treaty will precisely improve the decision making process. I am very happy that the treaty has been ratified. This is a very important moment for the EU.

Q.: Evaluating the past decade, what kind of authority, what kind of powers were you short of as High Representative (HR), what new levers is getting your successor under the Lisbon Treaty?

A.: Let me say that I am very proud of what the EU has achieved on the international scene in the last decade. This year we are celebrating the tenth anniversary of the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP). Over that period of time, we have deployed 23 EU missions or operations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia to help solving difficult crisis and to contribute to stabilization in tension areas.

Under the Lisbon Treaty, the High Representative will have under his authority tools that were - up to now - under the responsibility of different parts of the EU. It will be much easier for my successor to use the full range of EU tools that are adequate for each specific situation. The incoming HR will also have the support of an External Action Service that we are now putting in place and that will be among the biggest diplomatic services in the world. With this new setup, I am confident that the EU will be a in a better position to work with its partners on the international scene, for a more stable, more prosperous and safer world.

All for One?

Foreign Policy (Link) - Annie Lowrey (November 6, 2009)

The Lisbon Treaty creates an EU president, sure. But it's the new foreign policy czar who might really change the world.

Something that might augur a truly titanic shift in foreign affairs happened this week. It involves possibly sweeping foreign-policy changes in two of the world's five official nuclear states. It promises to alter the Middle East peace process, negotiations with Iran, and policies regarding Russian missile defense. It will likely necessitate scores of new embassies. It directly affects 500 million people and indirectly affects the rest of the world.

On Tuesday, Vaclav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic, grumblingly signed the European Union's Lisbon Treaty. His was the last signature needed to ratify the agreement, which streamlines Brussels's byzantine and slow-moving policymaking process and creates two leadership roles, an elected president with a 30-month term and a high representative for foreign policy.

Most focus has centered on the former position, whose precise responsibilities and powers EU leaders plan to hash out at a Nov. 11 summit. (The treaty comes into formal effect in December, and the new president is expected to take office on New Year's Day.) The somewhat sexy idea of a European president has led to wild speculation as to who might fill it, with dozens of potential candidates mentioned, most often the silver-tongued and internationally renowned Tony Blair and the barely known center-right Dutch leader Jan Peter Balkenende.

But it's actually the latter gig that has the most potential to transform how Brussels works and how Europe relates to the world. The president is likely to be just a figurehead rather than any kind of revolutionary leader. Just this week, a joint statement from the leaders of Denmark, Finland, and Ireland stressed that the president should be a "chairman," not a "chief." The characteristic most often cited as necessary is "consensus-building." For the eight years that the Lisbon Treaty and its prior incarnations have wended their way through various EU and European institutions, the concern has always been that the president might have too much authority, not too little.

Stronger EU?

Riz Khan Show (November 5, 2009) (Video)

Now that the Lisbon Treaty has finally been ratified, the European Union can begin to flex a stronger muscle in global affairs.

But will it sacrifice the power of individual member states in the process?

This week, the Czech Republic became the 27th and final EU nation to sign the treaty, bringing to a close a reform process that began eight years ago when the union consisted of only 15 members.

The agreement is designed to streamline the European Union and create more decision-making efficiency, a greater role for European and national parliaments, and increased European clarity on foreign affairs.

A new EU president will soon be appointed to a two-and-a-half year term - a big change from the current six-month revolving presidency - and the foreign affairs portfolio will also be expanded and strengthened to increase the EU's ability to act quickly and effectively in world affairs.

Today we ask: How will the newly-approved Lisbon Treaty shape Europe's future relationships with the rest of the world, and will it affect internal relationships between member states?

Joining the show is Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief.

Climate tops Brussels' agenda for EU-US summit

EU Observer (Link) - Valentina Pop (November 2, 2009)

Climate change will feature heavily at an EU-US summit on Tuesday (3 November) as Brussels and Washington each try to find out what the other side is going to bring to the global negotiating table next month.

Top officials from the European Commission and the Swedish EU presidency will meet US president Barack Obama and his team in Washington in a bid to feel out the American position a month ahead of the UN-led climate change conference in Copenhagen aimed at securing a global political agreement on carbon emissions.

The first formal EU-US summit since Mr Obama took office, apart from an informal get together in April this year in Prague, will have one and half hours on Tuesday (3 November) dedicated to four topics: climate change, economic recovery after the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh, Afghanistan-Pakistan and Iran.

Solana to Haaretz: New rules of war needed for age of terror

Haaretz (Link) - Adar Primor (October 25, 2009)

For exactly 10 years Javier Solana has represented the "international face" of Europe; 10 years in which he has closely followed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with all its turns and crises; a decade in which, to a great extent he was the answer to the famous question of Henry Kissinger: "Who should I call when I want to talk to Europe?"

To a certain extent Solana, the head of Europe's Common Foreign and Security Policy, has served simultaneously as the counterpart of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Secretary of Defense Bill Gates.

Soon, the most complicated role in the world may come to an end: with the final ratification of the Lisbon Treaty - the constitutional document of the European Union - the EU will appoint, for the first time, a foreign minister, who will head a European diplomatic service. Solana will step down. A proverbial moment before he does, he has agreed to grant Haaretz an exclusive interview.

The 67-year old Solana, who was in Israel this week as a guest at the President's Conference, is uncertain what the future holds for him. He is also not willing to reveal whom, among the candidates for the new position, he prefers. He prefers to talk about the day to day issues that were his bread and butter during the past decade.

For example, he would like to understand what troubled Israel that led to its decision to prevent French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to travel to the Gaza Strip this week. After all, he says, the visit was humanitarian in nature. He was told that Israel would like to prevent a "Hamas festival" that will grant legitimacy to the terrorist group ruling the Gaza strip.

EU, U.S., to form energy council

UPI (Link) (October 24, 2009)

A joint European-U.S. energy council to coordinate policy on both sides of the Atlantic is expected to begin work in November, a U.S. official said.

The official, speaking on condition his name not be used, told the EU Observer that President Obama and Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, are scheduled to announce the council at a Nov. 3 summit meeting in Washington. The council is to hold its first meeting the next day.

"Energy is an important foreign policy priority for the U.S. and a very important component of our bilateral relationship with the E.U.," the official said. "We wanted to have a form of engagement with the Europeans to reflect that and to raise it to the policy level, to the cabinet level."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Energy Secretary Stephen Chu are to sit on the council, along with Andris Piebalgs, E.C. commissioner for energy; Benita Fererro-Waldner, external relations; and Janez Potocnik, science and research. Javier Solana, the chief diplomat for the union, and two Swedish ministers, Carl Bildt and Maud Olofsson, representing the rotating E.U. presidency, will join them.

Annual Conference of the Institute for Security Studies of the European Union

Council of the European Union (Link) - European Union High Representative For Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana (October 22, 2009)

Dear friends, We are working hard to make a difference on every international question that is affecting our interests and values. We are now able to take decisions in real time; not just publish a communiqué one week after the event. From climate change to the International Criminal Court, we can say with a straight face that the EU is playing a leadership role. The European Union, more than anyone else, is constantly defending a vision of the world where rules are respected, the vulnerable are protected and solidarity is enacted.

Often we talk ourselves down in Europe. You all know the refrain of Europe being too divided, too slow and too soft. Long on rhetoric, short on delivery. And Yes in various areas we still under-perform compared to our potential. But a little perspective is in order here. Now we are taking executive action in a fast-moving world.

Building on the improvements of the last ten years, and with the new opportunities of the Lisbon Treaty within reach, we should plan our next steps : alert to new problems and dangers; guided by our common values. In partnership with others. And with the conviction that each on our own is unable to deal effectively with the problems of our globalised world. We know that acting together is the only way to defend our interests. But we have also defined acting together as being a strategic common interest. That is why European integration is both a means but also an end in itself.

I am convinced that it is only through further integration that Europeans will be able to assert themselves in a more complex world. A world characterised by big power shifts, multi-polarity and new security threats. A world where other narratives and other ways of doing things are gaining ground. We need to understand this world - at a deeper level than we often do. For this we need more common European assessments of what is driving change; how it is affecting our interests and what our options are to respond.

Solana: Palestinian state in 1967 borders

YNet News (Link) (October 21, 2009)

EU Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana said the European Union's goal is to establish a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders.

Speaking in Ramallah on Wednesday, Solana said the sooner this happens, the better.

Solana met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday morning, and is scheduled to meet later with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

His visit to the Palestinian Authority is aimed at highlighting the EU's commitment to the region and supporting the PA leadership.

Solana is slated to visit Israel on Thursday, and meet with Israeli officials.

During his visit to Ramallah, Solana said there may be a need to exchange certain territories, but he said this should not disrupt the territory's continuity.

He said EU's stance in the matter is similar to that of the Quartet on the Middle East, and expressed his support of Abbas' efforts to unite the Palestinian people in light of the current dispute between his Fatah party and Hamas.

Solana's meeting with Abbas came before the latter's trip to Egypt. After the meeting, Solana said that Abbas took off to Cairo where reconciliation talks between the two Palestinian factions are ongoing, and stressed that Abbas is dedicated to closing a deal.

Later Wednesday, Solana told the Israeli Presidential Conference in Jerusalem that the world must not accept an Iranian nuclear bomb. According to Solana, "Tomorrow is today and we have no time to lose."

As for the peace process in the Middle East, Solana called for limited negotiations. "The time to do it is now. Nothing has been done in the world without taking risks."

Report suggests Solana’s term will be extended beyond October — What Holly Thinks

Fulfilled Prophecy (Link) - Holly Pivec (October 13, 2009)

For those of us who have been following the theory that the 70th Week of Daniel began Jan. 1, 2007, things keep getting more interesting.

First, Javier Solana — the chief architect of the new European Neighbourhood Policy which launched Jan. 1, 2007 — announced that he planned to retire October 17. Now with this date only days away, he has been asked to extend his term until the end of October and possibly — according to a new report released yesterday by the Brookings Institution — until at least the end of December. The purpose for the extension is so EU leaders can sort out all the legal issues involved with the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, if and when it is fully ratified. Read the report here.

Second, Solana’s term as the secretary general of the Western European Union is also set to expire Nov. 24, and certain EU leaders would like to see the entire WEU dissolved. Yet, according to the same Brookings report, the WEU is “unwilling to be dissolved.” This news is fascinating to those of us who have considered the possibility that the 10 WEU nations may be the 10-nation military alliance foretold in Bible prophecy.

Third, Solana announced his retirement at a very ironic time — when he was poised to become the High Representative for Foreign Security and Defense under the Lisbon Treaty — a position with many increased powers. Did he perhaps hope that, by retiring from his current post, he would be appointed to that new position when the Lisbon Treaty finally went into force?

So, what will be the fate of Solana, the WEU and the Lisbon Treaty? All we can do is continue to wait and see.

EU makes its mark on the world stage

Guardian UK (Link) - Javier Solana (October 11, 2009)

This is a landmark year for the European Union's role in the world. It marks 10 years of European security and defence policy (ESDP), during which the EU has become a global provider of security, making a real difference to people's lives all over the world. At the same time, we are on the threshold of a new era when the Lisbon treaty enters into force and provides fresh impetus for our external action.

In 10 years, we have deployed 20 operations on three continents to help prevent violence, restore peace and rebuild after a conflict. From Kabul to Pristina, from Ramallah to Kinshasa, the EU is monitoring borders, overseeing peace agreements, training police forces, building up criminal justice systems and protecting shipping from pirate attacks. Thanks to our achievements, we are receiving more and more calls to help in a crisis or after a war. We have the credibility, the values and the will to do this.

The EU was ahead of its time in 1999. The comprehensive, multi-faceted nature of our approach was novel. And the EU remains the only organisation that can call on a full panoply of instruments and resources that complement the traditional foreign policy tools of its member states, both to pre-empt or prevent a crisis and to restore peace and rebuild institutions after a conflict.

This is where the EU's unique added value lies. We combine humanitarian aid and support for institution-building and good governance with crisis-management capacities, technical and financial assistance, and political dialogue and mediation. The EU's joint civilian-military approach makes us flexible and able to offer tailor-made solutions to complex problems. Today's conflicts demonstrate more clearly than ever that a military solution is neither the sole nor the best option, particularly during the stabilisation of a crisis – a truth President Barack Obama has also emphasised.

After Irish vote on Lisbon Treaty, EU looks anxiously to Czech president, British Conservatives

China View (Link) - Paul Ames (October 7, 2009)

Ireland's vote to approve the European Union's Lisbon Treaty has left the future of the EU in the hands of an odd couple.

One is a thrusting young British politician raised in riches and educated at one of the world's most exclusive schools. The other is a castle-dwelling former banker who thinks global warming is a myth invented by leftists plotting to take over the world.

David Cameron, an alumni of England's ultra-posh Eton Collage, is the leader of Britain's opposition Conservative Party, which wants to overturn Britain's approval of the treaty if, as is widely expected, it topples the Labor government in next year's general election.

The climate-change-denier is Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who has steadfastly refused to sign the Lisbon Treaty despite his parliament's vote in favor of the blueprint for reforming the way the EU does business.

This unlikely duo is the reason why celebrations were muted in the corridors of power at EU headquarters in Brussels last week when Irish voters approved the Lisbon Treaty in a second referendum.

EU asks top diplomat to stay on with treaty under cloud

EU Business (Link) (October 7, 2009)

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt asked the EU's top diplomat Wednesday to remain in his job until the end of the month, amid doubts over when the bloc's reform treaty will enter force.

"I spoke this morning to Javier Solana," Reinfeldt told reporters in Brussels, "and asked him to stay on until the end of October in his capacity."

Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief and also top international nuclear negotiator with Iran, was due to step down on October 17, with his post to disappear once the Lisbon Treaty enters force, possibly next year.

The treaty is meant to ease decision-making in the expanding European Union and create new posts such as a longer-term president and a new foreign policy supremo.

But a legal challenge to the treaty in the Czech Republic and threats by that country's eurosceptic president not to sign the text mean the whole process is under a cloud.

The mandate of the EU's executive arm -- the European Commission -- also ends on October 31, and Reinfeldt said Wednesday that he was heading into "unknown territory" by being forced to take decisions with an outdated treaty.

Under the existing Nice Treaty, at least one country would have to give up its coveted EU commissioner job, while under the new package no one would be forced to do so.

"When we have the clarity on when the Lisbon Treaty will come into force, I will begin the consultations" on the new jobs, he said. "But we do not yet know enough."

Iran Agrees to Send Enriched Uranium to Russia

The New York Times (Link) - Steven Erlanger & Mark Landler (October 1, 2009)

Iran agreed on Thursday in talks with the United States and other major powers to open its newly revealed uranium enrichment plant near Qum to international inspection in the next two weeks and to send most of its openly declared enriched uranium outside Iran to be turned into fuel for a small reactor that produces medical isotopes, senior American and other Western officials said.

Iran’s agreement in principle to export most of its enriched uranium for processing — if it happens — would represent a major accomplishment for the West, reducing Iran’s ability to make a nuclear weapon quickly and buying more time for negotiations to bear fruit.

If Iran has secret stockpiles of enriched uranium, however, the accomplishment would be hollow, a senior American official conceded.

The officials described the long day of talks here with Iran, the first such discussions in which the United States has participated fully, as a modest success on a long and complicated road. Iran had at least finally engaged with the big powers on its nuclear program after more than a year and had agreed to some tangible, confidence-building steps before another meeting with the same participants before the end of this month.

But despite the relatively promising outcome, the Obama administration was at pains to strike a cautious tone, given Iran’s history of duplicity, its crackdown on its own people after the tainted June presidential elections and President Obama’s concern about being perceived as naïve or susceptible to a policy of Iranian delays.

Mr. Obama, speaking in Washington, called the talks “constructive,” but warned Tehran that he was prepared to move quickly to more stringent sanctions if negotiations over Iran’s nuclear ambitions dragged on.

Greater EU harmony with foreign service, says diplomat

EU Observer (Link) - Andrew Willis (September 21, 2009)

An EU diplomatic service would greatly help the bloc define more unified positions when dealing with external countries says the European Commission's top representative in China.

Ambassador Serge Abou also sees future EU ambassadors becoming "primus inter pares [first among equals]" in areas of EU competence, when compared to member state diplomats working overseas.

"Their role will not be to represent the view of France, Germany or Spain but to represent the views of all of us [27 member states]," the Frenchman with over 35 years experience working in the European Commission told EUobserver in a recent interview.

The commission currently has over 150 delegations overseas, primarily dealing with issues where member states have handed authority over to the Brussels-based institution.

Dutch premier now likely candidate for presidency of European Council

Irish Times (Link) - Jamie Smyth (September 18, 2009)

DUTCH PRIME minister Jan Peter Balkenende has emerged as a possible candidate for the post of European Council president, which will be created if the Lisbon Treaty enters into force.

Two Dutch newspapers De Telegraaf and Het Financieele Dagblad cited three sources in Mr Balkenende’s Christian Democrat party yesterday, who claim to know “for sure” that he is a leading contender for the job.

Speculation is beginning to mount about the likely identity of the new council president following the re-election of José Manuel Barroso for another five-year term as European Commission president this week. Britain’s Gordon Brown said formal talks on filling the position were not on the agenda of the summit and could only take place after the Irish vote. But several names have been linked to the €280,000 a year job including Tony Blair, former Finnish prime minister Paavo Lipponen, the current French premier Francois Fillon and former Spanish prime minister Felipe Gonzalez.

Mr Blair is likely to face opposition to his candidature because of his central role in supporting the war in Iraq. Mr Lipponen could also face opposition from former eastern block countries such as Poland because he works for Gazprom on the proposed Nord Stream gas pipeline. Luxembourg premier Jean Claude Junker, whose name has previously been linked to the job, also seems to have dropped out of the running in recent months.

The post of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs is also due to be filled next month following the retirement of incumbent Javier Solana. German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier could become a candidate for this job if his party loses the upcoming German elections to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats. Other potential candidates include Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt, Austria’s Ursula Plassnik, and the Finnish commissioner for enlargement Olli Rehn.

A final decision on both jobs will be taken at the European Council on October 30th.

"Europe in the World"

Council of the European Union (Link) - Javier Solana at Harvard University (September 17, 2009) [Emphasis below mine]

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, I am delighted to be back at Harvard.

The last time, we discussed whether the US and Europe, Mars and Venus, could be reconciled. The answer today is even more obvious than it was then. But we have new issues to grapple with and a new geo-political landscape. Again the question is what the US and Europe can and should do together.

Before we get to that, let me assess the changed context. Ours is a world in flux. One where everything is speeding up: politically, economically and technologically. The net result is growing complexity. There is no single narrative or template to guide us. Chaos and hypermodernity live side by side. Integration and disintegration co-exist. No wonder many of our citizens feel confused, even lost.

Against this background, we need to be flexible and principled at the same time. For our core values have not changed. Nor has our determination to preserve them at home and support them abroad.

What is really changing the world is globalisation. It is leading to deeper interdependence and, probably, to multi-polarity.

Globalisation is good. And anyway pretty much unstoppable. It spreads prosperity and makes us richer culturally. It brings people together across continents. Of course, it has a dark side too. It makes us more vulnerable to shocks and has brought new problems in its wake. It needs a human face.

Globalisation is our child, the child of our ideas. But we can no longer run the world as we used to. We have to adjust. It means new powers are rising while older ones are playing new roles. The financial crisis has shrunk the timeline. The need to reposition ourselves is not a challenge for the medium-term. It is an issue for today.