Aureliu Ciocoi (; born 5 June 1968) is a

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

n diplomat and politician who served as Acting

Prime Minister of Moldova The prime minister of 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 of Moldova, cabinet, subject to Parliament of Moldova, p ...

from December 2020 to August 2021. He is currently the country's ambassador to Germany and Denmark. Prior positions that Ciocoi held include being the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs and former ambassador to the United States, China and Vietnam. Ciocoi was named acting prime minister on 31 December 2020 after

Ion Chicu Ion Chicu (; born 28 February 1972) is a Moldovan economist and politician who served as Prime Minister of Moldova between 2019 until his resignation in 2020. Biography He was born on 28 February 1972 in the village of Pîrjolteni, located in t ...

, who submitted his resignation a week earlier, refused to stay on in an acting capacity until a new government was formed.

Biography

Aureliu Ciocoi was born on 5 June 1968 in

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...

. He graduated from the Primary, Secondary and High School No. 11 (today the Lyceum "Ion Creangă"). From 1986 to 1988, he was a soldier in the

Soviet Border Troops The Soviet Border Troops () were the border guard of the Soviet Union, subordinated to the Soviet state security agency: first to the ''Cheka''/State Political Directorate, OGPU, then to NKVD/Ministry for State Security (USSR), MGB and, final ...

of the

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

. Between 1985 and 1992, he studied at the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences of the

Moldova State University Moldova State University (USM; Romanian language, Romanian: ''Universitatea de Stat din Moldova'') is a university located in Chișinău, Moldova. It was founded in 1946, and initially had five faculties, Physics and Mathematics, Geology and Ped ...

. From 1992 to 1994, he studied at the Faculty of International Relations of the

National University of Political Studies and Public Administration National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, Romania. While studying at the university, he worked at the Central Publishing House in Chișinău. After the

fall of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of Nationalities, Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. :s: ...

, he became a journalist for several daily newspapers. He worked as ambassador to Germany and Denmark from 2010 to 2015, as well as to China and Vietnam from 2015 to 2017. He also briefly served as ambassador to the United States in 2017. From 2018 to 2019, he was an adviser to President Igor Dodon on foreign policy issues. After resigning from the cabinet on 9 November, he was appointed as foreign minister once again. On 31 December 2020, President Maia Sandu appointed him as interim prime minister after Prime Minister Ion Chicu resigned on 23 December.

Personal life

He is married and has one child. He speaks fluent Romanian,

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, English,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, and French. He was a sportsman in the 1980s, being a Master of Sport of the USSR and a member of the Moldovan national junior team in shooting. His hobbies include philosophy, literature, and theatre.

Awards

* Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (November 2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ciocoi, Aureliu 1968 births Living people Ambassadors of Moldova to China Ambassadors of Moldova to Vietnam Ambassadors of Moldova to Germany Ambassadors of Moldova to Denmark Ambassadors of Moldova to the United States Diplomats from Chișinău Foreign ministers of Moldova Prime ministers of Moldova Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Soviet border guards