Javier Nart, deputy “by accident”, adventurer by conviction
(B2) At 71, the Catalan Javier Nart, MEP since 2014, on the benches of Ciudadanos, does not know if he will stand for another term in 2019. This former lawyer and war photographer is still investing thoroughly, the plush carpets of the Parliament have not dulled his temper.
At the desk 33 from the hemicycle of the European Parliament in Strasbourg or that of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Brussels, where he sits most often, Javier Nart (ALDE) is one of the regulars. He who only discovered, according to him, "by accident" the benches of the European Parliament. Solidarity, unity, equality, freedom are the four words that have defined his political commitment for 17 years. And rants...
The field man
Javier Nart has been a lawyer specializing in criminal law for 48 years. For 25 years, he was also a war correspondent (for Sygma and Gamma). He leaves " at Christmas, in summer, at Easter or during bridges ". This is how he " covers » number of wars. Starting with Lebanon. " It was easy to go to Beirut on Friday and land on Monday morning in Barcelona, where I changed in the parking lot of the airport ". It often happened to him to leave a judicial file under his arm. This is how one day when he returned from Chad, when he reopened a file at his office, grains of sand were scattered..." Even during the war, I worked on my files. »
Around the world
Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Afghanistan, the revolution in Iran, Yemen, Lebanon, Libya-Egypt, Chad, Western Sahara, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Nicaragua... The globe scrolls by. 130 countries visited. He counted them. THE " worst was Cambodia, a plunge into the hell of the Khmer Rouge. But " all wars are horrible enough, because of the violence “, also because of the” after “. As in Nicaragua, where a desperate people manages to free itself from a dictatorship, aspires to democracy, to finally be " betrayed ". " Victory has turned into an oligarchic monster where some have taken over the country, prostituting the liberating revolution into a dictatorship under the guise of democracy. This is the situation today, with Ortega and his wife “, asserts the deputy, virulent, intransigent. To these conflicts, he devoted one of his books, in 2016: " Nunca la nada fue tanto "(Never so much was nothing).
A solitary job
In the field, he leaves alone, not wanting " not risk the responsibility of the lives of others ". Especially since in reporting, he more readily follows guerrilla movements. What " forces me to take illegal roads ". " This discretion, the fact that I could accompany them, they granted it to me. »
The need for land always
The missions of deputies in foreign countries count for Javier Nart. It was part of that of June 2018 in Colombia and Brazil, to assess the consequences of the migratory and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. Does he feel free enough to see everything? tell all ? " In any case, we manage to find out more, to meet people. “He always tries to stay” few more days », to deepen and widen his contacts and encounters.
The experience of war
During a current affairs debate in the European Parliament on Nicaragua, he told his colleagues: " I fought with the Sandinistas. Do not call Sandinistas today those who run the country because they have betrayed ". The hon. member gets carried away with what he calls the ideological racism "," a certain leftism which bristles at those who demand rights in Europe but do not dare to criticize those who flout them elsewhere... The fault lies in the solidarity of ideology. He loathes. He dreads " when ideology transforms reality ».
Disappointed utopias...
The Sandinista front was " an inevitable war, for democracy, dignity he defends. “But the tragedy was that this militarized and disciplined movement, once the victory, its leaders who had become politicians bowed to the obedience »... as too often. Javier Nart gets carried away, he evokes in turn Cuba or Franco, these countries or moments, " where an enlightened guide is needed to instruct the people ". The tone becomes satirical. Tragic criticism such as about Eritrea, where the movement " yet without corruption, became so, corrupt, once in power ».
And Europe in all this?
« One does what one can “, responds tac-au-tac Javier Nart about the role of the European Union to prevent wars, dictatorships, corruption. Like today about Nicaragua. " It is necessary to establish all the requirements to obtain a correct behavior of the Ortega diet “, he begins to clarify. Then stops. Does he think that's enough? Silence invades his Parliament office for a few seconds.
Too much theory, more empathy
The MP would like politicians to be more often in a position to live what the people they are talking about are going through, for whom they are making decisions. This is how he lets go of these words, on a recurring current topic, migrations. " The images I see on television are not those that I lived in the Sahara, the dried up, abandoned bodies. Here in Parliament, we have too much theory. And to also quote the Palestinians. " If politicians could live three years like the Palestinians live and then come back to parliament, I'm sure they would have understood a lot about the occupation, the humiliation, the lack of hope. »
« Desearía que los políticos olieran diez minutos de guerra para aborrecerla y respectla (Politicians would have to feel ten minutes of war to hate and respect her)
Worried about the social future of Europe
The future of Europe worries him, because where is our answer? “, he pretends to question. He has " diagnosed the disease "," but can't find a doctor ". " I am concerned about this process of introspection in tragic situations with political parties looking at the world as in 1990... However, the most important today is not production, but the control of marketing ". He quotes 'Amazon'. " The most important thing is to have the network, it's an almost metaphysical economy. And the unions, they are on bicycles against Formula 1 cars. »
Unity more than necessary
The 2019 electoral deadline does not reassure him, convinced that " the next Parliament will have a large populist group if we do not propose an answer ". The risk he foresees is a Europe reduced to a tourist and gastronomic destination "But" politically and strategically... ". The ellipsis weighs heavily in the atmosphere of the MP's office. Javier Nart" counts on Germany, France, Benelux, Spain to embark on a real strategic coordination of foreign affairs and taxation of the EU ».
Thank God we have Trump!
As for a " real foreign policy "," Thank God we have Trump! “he loose, attributing to the American president the role” alarm ". " He woke us up. I thank him for his brutality, for his declarations which leave no doubt as to the answer to be given. This is perhaps what would motivate him to represent himself.
(Emmanuelle Stoesser)
Face-to-face interview in Strasbourg
