Javier Nart facts for kids

Javier Nart Peñalver, born on August 19, 1947, is a Spanish journalist and politician. He has been a member of the European Parliament since 2014, working with the Renew Europe group. Before that, from 2012 to 2019, he was part of the Citizens political party.

Early Life and School

Javier Nart was born in Laredo, a town in Spain. His father was a well-known notary in Bilbao.

Javier went to a school run by Opus Dei and was expected to join the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), a religious group. However, he wasn't religious himself, so this path didn't suit him. Even so, he has great respect for the Jesuits, especially those he met later in Nicaragua. He studied law at the University of Barcelona. He also studied journalism because he wanted to move to Barcelona on his own. He jokes that he was a "bad lawyer" during the week but an activist on weekends.

Working as a Writer and Reporter

Early in his career, Javier Nart worked as a war correspondent, reporting from many countries like Lebanon, Chad, Myanmar, and Yemen. He met and learned from people involved in major conflicts around the world between 1977 and 1992. He also covered the Nicaraguan Revolution in 1979, which led to the removal of dictator Anastasio Somoza. He traveled from one war zone to another, taking photos that helped people understand these conflicts better. He became very close with the Palestinians and the Fatah resistance group. He believes they deserve a better life, even though he sometimes criticized their leaders.

As a photographer, some of Nart's pictures appeared in big newspapers like Newsweek. He once took a photo of a child who had died, with the child's mother holding money to buy supplies. He later regretted publishing this photo. He talks about how terrible war is and how showing real images can make people stop supporting a war, like the Vietnam War. He is worried that remote-controlled drones make serious injuries seem like a video game, which makes people forget the real suffering of war.

Nart's first book, Viaje al otro Brasil (Journey to the Other Brazil), came out in 2002. Unlike most of his work, this book is not about war. Instead, it's a travel guide to parts of Brazil that many tourists don't visit, away from popular cities like São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. In 2003, he published ¡Sálvese quien pueda! Mis historias e historias de guerra (Every Man for Himself: My Stories and War Stories). He wrote this book so his children would know about his experiences in wars. The wars he reported on showed how cruel humans can be, but also how brave they can be. The things he saw were so awful that he couldn't talk to his family for days after returning to Spain.

In 2007, Nart published three more books. Guerrilleros (Warriors) is a history book about how the Spanish people fought against Napoleon and his brother, who was made king of Spain. He also released two more travel books: Viaje al Mekong (Trip to the Mekong), about traveling through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam; and Viaje al desierto (Trip in the Desert), about a journey from Kano to Cairo.

Nart's most recent book, Nunca la nada fue tanto (Never Was Nothing So Much), was published in 2016. In this book, he explains why he took part in so many conflicts. He believes it's a duty to reduce injustice, pain, and sadness. He feels that life without freedom and justice, or without trying to achieve them, is pointless. His strong commitment to justice is a key part of his life. In this book, he often criticized the rebel groups he lived among, who were usually fine with him being there. However, Nart did agree that armed struggle was necessary against the Somoza family's rule in Nicaragua.

Political Career

Member of the European Parliament

On February 22, 2014, Javier Nart was chosen in a special election to lead the Citizens party for the European elections that year. He was then elected to the European Parliament. In the Parliament, he served as a vice-chair of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group. He also worked on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and its Subcommittee on Security and Defence. Additionally, he was part of the Parliament's groups that worked with countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, and with Latin American countries.

Nart was re-elected to the European Parliament in the 2019 European election. On June 24, 2019, he stepped down from his role on the Citizens party's national committee. This happened after the committee voted again to refuse to work with another political party, the PSOE.

A few months later, in September 2019, Nart told the party he was leaving it. However, he decided to stay on as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) to continue representing the ideas the party had promoted during the 2019 election. He explained that he left the party because he strongly disagreed with their decision to only work with the PP and indirectly with Vox.

Nart led the European Union's team that watched over the 2020 Ghanaian general election to make sure it was fair.

His Beliefs

Javier Nart strongly supports a united Europe and believes the European Union is very important. Like other politicians from his party, he likes the idea of moving towards a "United States of Europe." He also thinks that European cooperation should include foreign policy and defense that works with NATO. Nart believes that the European project, which aims to give peace, democracy, and social well-being to its member countries, is too important to let people who don't like the EU (called Euroskeptics) get their way.

In early 2021, Nart and 15 other MEPs from different political groups wrote a letter to Josep Borrell, a high-ranking EU official. They asked him to replace the European Union’s ambassador to Cuba because they felt the ambassador was siding with Cuba’s Communist leaders.

See also

In Spanish: Javier Nart para niños