Solana hopes to get by with a little help from his friends

Date: 14/12/1995

NATO's new Secretary-General Javier Solana is due to set up home in Brussels about now, but his wife will not be joining him. The couple split up six months ago and even Solana's faithful secretary, who has always moved with his job changes, is unlikely to keep him company: she isn't sure, apparently, that she wants to move north from Madrid to live in Brussels.

It is a bit of a problem for a man known to like company: he recently asked journalists familiar with Brussels to give him a hand when he takes up his new job. Slightly embarrassed and a bit puzzled, they pointed out they didn't know a lot about the workings of the military alliance and certainly not enough to advise the top honcho. No, no, said Solana, not help with the job - help with the social life.

There is one Brussels-based journalist who might be in a position to give Solana a professional hand. El Pais correspondent Xavier Vidal-Folch helped Solana and Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez build a 'Yes to Nato' campaign in Spain in 1986 when the new Socialist administration came to power and had to reverse its position swiftly in time for an already-planned referendum on whether the country should join the alliance. Could Vidal-Folch be on the brink of a switch into politics?