A Little Background
Fifteen years ago I began following a story that today needs to be told. What started as a discovery of a 10-nation military alliance in Western Europe may have become the actual record of the fulfillment of the end-time prophecies -- all the way to Daniel's 70th week.

In the early 1990s, when I first began my journey as a newspaper columnist, I was not aware of the many different ways to interpret the ancient prophecies of Scripture. My religious experience was limited to a long family history of a literal belief  in the Bible and a dispensational approach to the subject of end-time prophecy. So, what follows is not intended as an argument for a particular method of biblical interpretation. What follows is simply my experience.

In the Old Testament book of Daniel we read:

And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate (Daniel 9:27 New America Standard Bible).

In my religious circles, it is commonly believed the passage above foretells the rise of a new leader from out of a revived Roman Empire who will confirm, strengthen, or make strong, a covenant, agreement, or treaty, with many for a period of seven years. Israel will be included in this covenant. After 3 1/2 years, the leader will put a stop to Israel's restored Temple Mount rituals. In other passages from Daniel, we learn that this leader will appear among a 10-nation alliance (Daniel 7:7-8). And, on his rise to power, the leader will subdue three kings from the 10-nation alliance (Daniel 7:24). And, in the New Testament book of Revelation we learn that this leader will somehow be identified with the number 666 (Revelation 13: 18).

The Unreported News
Friends, everything that's written above is what appears to be happening. Today, for the first time in 2000 years, we're seeing the Roman Empire being successfully revived through a European reunification process that has come to be known as the European Union (EU). And, as I stated at the beginning, a 10-nation alliance has also appeared in Europe. On  January 1, 1995, Greece became the 10th nation of a military alliance known as the Western European Union (WEU). These 10 nations are members of both NATO and the European Union (EU). What binds these 10 nations together is a mutual defense obligation under Article Five of the modified Brussels Treaty. These 10 nations are also known as the Brussels Treaty Powers.

In December of 1998, at their Vienna summit, the EU's heads created the Office of High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy for the European Union. The holder of this new office would be empowered by the many EU member states to direct their common foreign and security policy toward the Russian Federation, the Ukraine, the Balkans and -- biblically significant -- the Mediterranean. The funny thing is, out of over 1,150 documents that were generated by the summit, the document that created the post of High Representative was number 666.

For me, as a reporter, here is where the real political intrigue begins. While the EU heads were busy in Vienna creating the post of High Representative, Javier Solana, as then Secretary General of NATO, was busy restructuring NATO for the post Cold War era. What this meant to some European leaders would later became evident. Now that the Soviet Union was no longer a military threat, dependence on America was no longer necessary. So, Solana divided NATO into two strategic commands -- one in Norfolk, Virginia, for America, and one in Brussels for Europe. In other words, Solana split the Atlantic Alliance down the middle. He turned the 10 WEU nations into a second pillar of NATO.

In October 1999, when his job as the head of NATO was ending, Javier Solana became the EU's first High Representative. Solana also became the Secretary General of the Council of Europe -- the EU's true seat of power. The following month in November, Solana was made Secretary General of the 10-nation WEU alliance. Needless to say, these three positions made Solana a powerful new player in this modern-day revival of the old Roman Empire.

More political intrigue was to come. On June 5, 2000, the 10 WEU nations adopted their Assembly Recommendation 666. The importance of this document was to recommend to the Council of Europe that the 10 Brussels Treaty Powers should be kept together as the EU's new military wing. It also recommended giving the High Representative emergency powers -- powers even the EU's president doesn't have. Since Solana was Secretary General of both the WEU and the Council, Recommendation 666 was actually Solana recommending action to Solana.

The following month, France -- one of the 10 WEU nations -- took over the EU's six-month rotating presidency. Immediately Solana, along with the French EU presidency, began implementing Recommendation 666. The Assembly of the WEU became the oversight organ for the EU's new military wing. The infamous Solana Decision soon followed. This decision removed from public view all documents that the Council (Solana) thought should be kept secret. The move was interpreted by some to be a coup.

The Solana Doctrine
In March 2003, without gaining UN approval, America launched the Iraqi war. America's unilateral action once again shattered the EU's illusion of having a common foreign policy. Some EU nations supported America's Middle East venture; others strongly opposed it. The result was a fractured alliance with little hope of being mended. A few months later, the impossible happened. 

In June 2003, Solana delivered his 10-page security doctrine to the EU heads at their summit in Greece. It was titled, A Secure Europe in a Better World. It had three basic parts. One: It called for establishing economic and political stability through the EU's neighborhood. Two: It called for establishing a new international order. Three: It called for increasing the EU's civil and military capabilities to better combat rogue states and weapons of mass destruction.

It was amazing to see the reaction to Solana's new doctrine. It not only managed to pull back together the bickering EU states; the same month it led to a strategic treaty with Washington. Although many elements of the treaty were kept secret, it's known to have established a joint effort between the EU and America to start fighting the international war against terror together.

The Israel Connection
As far as end-time prophecy is concerned, these events -- as intriguing as they are -- would be meaningless without a connection to God's geo-strategic center of prophecy -- the land of Israel. And, it turns out that they are -- in a big way. In November 1995, Javier Solana successfully negotiated the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership for Peace (Euromed). The agreement was between the then 15 EU member states and 12 Mediterranean states -- including Israel and the Palestinian Authority. In fact, some believe that it may have been Solana's skill in negotiating this agreement that caused then Secretary of State Warren Christopher to recommend Solana as head of NATO to President Clinton.

The goal of the Euromed project is to create a region of peace and stability across Europe and the Mediterranean. That being the case, it's no wonder looking at Euromed maps is like looking at maps of the old Roman Empire. The Mediterranean was once considered a Roman lake. Soon, if the Euromed project works, it will become the EU's lake. 

The Euromed, however, failed to deliver. So, Solana introduced his European Neighborhood Policy (ENP). The purpose of the ENP was to strengthen, or make strong, his faltering Euromed scheme. The ENP is a huge package of financial deals for each participating Euromed nation. These deals include Action Plans (AP) that are custom tailored for each participating nation. The idea is, by monitoring each nation's progress to their AP, the Euromed project can be strengthened and made to work.

The ENP was implemented under existing funding instruments. However, the existing instruments were not sufficient to meet the ENP's goals. So, Solana was tasked with creating a new funding instrument -- the European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI). When the new funding instrument takes over, the ENP will become the "New" ENP. This will happen on January 1, 2007. What's prophetically significant is, the ENPI is a seven-year funding instrument. In other words, the New ENP is designed to strengthen, or make strong, the 1995 Euromed for a period of seven years.

Solana's New Seat
Now that the French and Dutch voters have rejected the EU's new Constitution, the EU heads are facing a serious crisis. Existing treaties give the EU heads until 2009 to make certain necessary changes to the internal workings of the Union. The Constitution would have allowed these changes. However, without the Constitution in force, a way must be found to accomplish the changes within the legal framework of existing treaties. This has set the EU heads on a desperate, two track approach -- implement all the changes that are possible, while pushing ahead the Constitution.

Because the Euromed project is a primary concern, an important change needed is for the High Representative to have a seat within the EU's Commission. Since the Commission is in charge of the EU's purse strings, it's naturally desirable to have Solana present there on January 1, 2007, in order to oversee and administer his New ENP. So, at the December European Council, the EU heads gave their approval to have Solana seated within the Commission -- without the constitutional changes.

Solana’s Mandate
Also at the December European Council, the EU heads approved a new Middle East peace plan sponsored by Spain, Italy and France. As a result of the decision, Solana was given his necessary EU mandate to take the plan to the other three members of the Quartet – the US, the UN and Russia -- and start a fresh effort to kick-start the stalled Middle East peace process. This led to January’s so-called “Madrid+15 Conference”, where closed door talks appeared to do exactly that -- kick-start the peace process. 

Some Loose Ends
For those with a similar understanding of end-time prophecy, the implication of these events are obvious -- we may be entering the seven-year period known as Daniel's 70th week. However, for this to be true, a few more elements should also be in place. The prophecy tells us that the entire 70 weeks are for the Jewish people and their holy city Jerusalem (Daniel 9: 24). So, it stands to reason that this should be true for the final week also. And, as we read earlier, the prophecy also tells us that in the middle of the week the covenant will be broken and the coming leader will stop the Temple sacrifices in Jerusalem. After this event happens, the leader and his 10-king alliance will begin a religious war against God's elect.

War Against the Saints
On December 18 and 19, the UN's new Alliance of Civilizations (AoC) was formally christened. The AoC's stated goal is to avoid a clash of civilizations by building a bridge between the West and the Muslim world. While Kofi Annan was kicking off the new global peace project in New York, British Prime Minster Tony Blair was touring the Middle East pushing the AoC's agenda. Blair was calling for moderate Arab states to enter into an alliance with the West in order to fight religious extremism and confront Iran. Friends, Blair's choice of words was no coincidence.

You see, the AoC was proposed by Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. The UN initiative was co-sponsored by Zapatero and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Zapatero's main concern is controlling immigration from the south and the completion of the EU's Euromed. Erdogan, on the other hand, is concerned about the threat his and other moderate Muslim states face from the religious extremists. The AoC was created to provide solutions for both concerns. Not only will the AoC bring on board the moderate Arab world, it will serve as a vehicle from which they can mount a religious war against all who oppose. 

The UN plans to use the Euromed and the ENP as the framework in which to begin implementing the AoC. If successful, the idea is to extend it globally. A World Parliament of eminent religious leaders is to follow. Also to soon follow is the appointment of an AoC High Representative -- a person of renown political and religious qualifications.

If it makes it through the UN process, then the AoC will become operational in September 2009, just in time to be fully functional in 2010 -- the middle of the seven-year period.

An Uneasy Conclusion
Friends, it's my belief the entire end-time picture may be before us. And, it's my fear that, because of doctrinal differences -- some very minor -- many of God's people will continue to be uninformed. There is much more information. But, in light of all that's been presented, I don't think more information should be necessary.

If we're entering the 70th week, then we should expect a gradual peace to begin dawning over the Middle East. We should see Israel being allowed to go back to her Temple sacrifices and many of our own religious leaders seduced by the AoC. Then, in 2010, it should all fall apart.

Stay tuned!