Chapter 8: Introducing Mr. Europe
The time will come when the nations of Europe will say to one man, ‘You take authority over us.’ 1J. Dwight Pentecost, 1961
As I said before, if those 10 European nations known as the Brussels Treaty Powers are to become the 10 kings of Bible prophecy, then I knew one man would soon rise to a place of power alongside them. So I began watching for the creation of an office within the European Union that could accommodate such a person. This happened with the signing of the Amsterdam Treaty in 1997.
Europe needed one voice to speak for the many nations that made up the European Union. They also needed someone to help the Council of the European Union in matters relating to their new Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The EU nations had big ambitions in this area. What they needed was someone who the world could call “Mr. Europe.”2 So, at Amsterdam, the 15 EU heads of state met together and decided to create the new office of High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy.
Although the Amsterdam Treaty was signed in 1997, it didn’t become effective until May 1999. Then just five months later, on October 15, 1999, a remarkable man became the first to hold this office. He was a 56-year-old Spaniard by the name of Javier Solana Madariaga. He was a member of the Spanish Socialist Party and had been the prior head of NATO.