Valerii Klimenko (or Klimenco; born 20 September 1953) is a

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n-born

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 politician currently serving as a municipal councilor of

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 is the founder of the Ravnopravie Movement (now the Shor Party), and its honorary chairman.

Biography and career

Born in the Sverdlovsk region of the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

, he graduated from high school in the city of

Poltava Poltava (, ; , ) is a city located on the Vorskla, Vorskla River in Central Ukraine, Central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Poltava Oblast as well as Poltava Raion within the oblast. It also hosts the administration of Po ...

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

. In 1979, he became a correspondent for the newspaper Moldova Sovietica, and in 1980 he graduated from the Faculty of Journalism at the

University of Lviv The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (named after Ivan Franko, ) is a state-sponsored university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since 1940 the university is named after Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko. The university is the oldest institution of highe ...

. In 1990, he obtained a doctorate in history from the same university.

Political activity

In 1996, he founded the Russian Community of Chișinău, and since 1997, he has been president of the

Congress of Russian Communities The Congress of Russian Communities (CRC, ) is a political organization in Russia. It was created in the early 1990s initially to promote the rights of ethnic Russians living in the newly independent countries of the former Soviet Union. Th ...

in the Republic of Moldova. In 1998, he founded the Ravnopravie Movement. In 2002–2003, he was a representative of the Congress of Russian Communities in the Republic of Moldova in the Council of Compatriots, under the

State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...

. In 1999–2011, he was a councilor in the

Chișinău Municipal Council Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the capital and largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc, a tributary of the Dniester ...

, elected on the lists of the Ravnopravie Movement. In the fall of 2010, Ravnopravie entered the electoral race for the

parliamentary elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

in the Republic of Moldova with the slogan: ''For Moldova as part of Russia!''. In 2016, he ceded the leadership of the party to

Ilan Shor Ilan may refer to: Organization *ILAN, Israeli umbrella organization for the treatment of disabled children Given name *Ilan (name), a Hebrew/Israeli name * Ilan Bakhar, a retired Israeli footballer * Ilan Araújo Dall'Igna, a Brazilian footballe ...

, changing its name to the Shor Party. Klimenko remained the honorary chairman of the party.

Political views

Klimenko is known for his

pro-Russian Russophilia is the identification or solidarity with, appreciation of, or support for the Russia, country, Russians, people, Russian language, language, and history of Russia. One who espouses Russophilia is called a russophile. Its Opposite ...

and anti-European stance. Some of his positions led Romanian newspaper

Adevărul (; meaning "The Truth", formerly spelled ''Adevĕrul'') is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in Iași, in 1871, and reestablished in 1888, in Bucharest, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published during the Kingd ...

to describe him as an " anti-Romanian leader". Klimenko opposes the idea of the

unification Unification or unification theory may refer to: Computer science * Unification (computer science), the act of identifying two terms with a suitable substitution * Unification (graph theory), the computation of the most general graph that subs ...

of Moldova with

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, arguing that it could create a

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, in which Russia would also participate.

Personal life

Klimenko speaks Russian and Ukrainian. He is married and has one child.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klimenko, Valerii 1953 births Living people People from Sverdlovsk Oblast Russian emigrants to Moldova Moldovan historians Moldovan journalists Moldovan politicians