Iurie Leancă (; born 20 October 1963) is a

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistri ...

n politician who was the

Prime Minister of Moldova The Prime Minister of Moldova ( ro, Prim-ministrul Republicii Moldova) is Moldova's head of government. The Prime Minister is formally appointed by the President of Moldova and exercises executive power along with the cabinet, subject to parlia ...

from 2013 until 2015. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration from 2009 to 2013 as part of the First and

Second Filat Cabinet The Second Filat Cabinet was the Cabinet of Moldova from 14 January 2011 to 30 May 2013. The Cabinet consisted of ministers from the Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova, the Democratic Party of Moldova, and the Liberal Party, who together fo ...

Early career

Iurie Leancă was born on 20 October 1963 in

Cimișlia Cimișlia () is a town located in the southern part of Moldova situated on the banks of the Cogâlnic River, between the capital of Chișinău and the autonomous territorial unit of Gagauzia ( ro, Găgăuzia). Cimişlia had a population of 11 ...

. His father is Moldovan and his mother Bulgarian. He graduated from

Moscow State Institute of International Relations Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) (russian: Московский государственный институт международных отношений (МГИМО), also known as MGIMO University) is an institute of ...

and from 1986 until 1993, Leancă worked at the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The enti ...

. Between June and October 1989, he served as second secretary at the Soviet embassy in Bucharest, Romania, first secretary in the political department of the foreign ministry of the Soviet Moldavia (1989–1990), and counselor of Moldova's Minister of Foreign Affairs specializing in European affairs (1990–1993).Brezianu, Andrei, ''Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Moldova''. The Scarecrow Press, Inc., Lanham,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

, 2000, 112. Between 1993 and 1997, he was the Minister-Counselor at the Embassy of Moldova in Washington, D.C. Then, he was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1998 to 1999 and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1999 to 2002, in the

Alliance for Democracy and Reforms The Alliance for Democracy and Reforms (often abbreviated to ADR) was a governing coalition in Moldova between numerous non-Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova, Communist parties which had absolute majority in the Parliament of the Re ...

cabinets and in the Vasile Tarlev Cabinet (1). Also, he was the acting

Foreign Minister of Moldova The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration () is one of the fourteen ministries of the Government of Moldova. Pre-history The ministry was established on 1 February 1944, as the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs of the Mol ...

from 27 July to 4 September 2001. In October 2001 I.Leancă tendered his resignation expressing thus his disagreement with the foreign policy objectives of the Communist Party of Moldova which came to power earlier that year. Following his resignation, he worked as the Ascom Group deputy CEO (2001–2005, 2007–2009). He worked also as a Senior Adviser to the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...

High Commissioner on National Minorities (2005–2007). In January 2009 I.Leanca became a member of the Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova (PLDM). He was elected as MP in April 2009 election and July 2009 election. He resigned from the PLDM in early 2015, citing an insufficient commitment to pursuing pro-European reforms. Leancă was also the vice-president of The Foreign Policy Association of Moldova (2005–2009).

Foreign and European Integration Minister

Leancă was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Integration in the Vlad Filat Cabinet. In a press conference on 21 October Leancă announced that official negotiations on the Moldova– EU association agreement would start on 12 January 2010. He is married to Aida Leancă and has two children. He speaks Romanian, Russian, English, French, Hungarian, and Bulgarian.

Prime Minister

He was appointed Acting Prime Minister on 25 April 2013 following the decision of the

Constitutional Court of Moldova The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova () represents the sole body of constitutional jurisdiction in the Republic of Moldova, autonomous and independent from the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The task of the Constitu ...

to prevent then acting Prime Minister Vlad Filat from being reappointed to the position he had held since 2009. In May 2013, Leancă was proposed by the PLDM as its candidate for Prime Minister. On 15 May, he was designated Prime Minister by the President Nicolae Timofti and invited to form a government. Negotiations continued until 29 May 2013, when the

Pro-European Coalition The Pro-European Coalition ( ro, Coaliția Pro-Europeană) was the ruling coalition in Moldova from 30 May 2013 until 18 February 2015. Its leaders were Vlad Filat, Marian Lupu, and Ion Hadârcă. The previous Alliance for European Integrati ...

between the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM), Democratic Party (PDM) and a break-away faction from the Liberal Party (PL), namely the Liberal Reformist Party (PLR), was agreed upon. The new government received the support of the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

with 58 votes on 30 May and was sworn in on 31 May.

European Parliament candidacy

Leancă ran in the

2019 European Parliament election in Romania European Parliament elections were held in Romania on 26 May 2019. Background Social Democratic Party (PSD) In April 2019, the Party of European Socialists (PES) announced on Wednesday that it would freeze relations with the Social Democra ...

as an MEP candidate for the Victor Ponta's recently founded

PRO Romania PRO Romania (, PRO) is a minor extra-parliamentary social liberal political party in Romania. History The founding of PRO Romania was initiated in 2017 by former Prime Minister Victor Ponta, former acting/ad interim Prime Minister and Minist ...

party.

References

External links

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration

Government of Moldova
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Leanca, Iurie 1963 births Bessarabian Bulgarians Deputy Prime Ministers of Moldova Foreign ministers of Moldova Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova MPs Moldovan MPs 2014–2018 Living people Moldovan diplomats Moldovan MPs 2009 Moldovan MPs 2009–2010 Moldovan people of Bulgarian descent Moscow State Institute of International Relations alumni People from Cimișlia District Prime Ministers of Moldova