Iurie Leancă

Iurie Leancă
Leancă in 2013
9th Prime Minister of Moldova
In office
30 May 2013 – 18 February 2015
PresidentNicolae Timofti
Deputy
Preceded byVladimir Filat
Succeeded byChiril Gaburici
President of the European People's Party
In office
26 July 2015 – 26 July 2019
Succeeded byEugen Sturza (acting)
Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova
for European Integration
In office
10 January 2018 – 8 June 2019
PresidentIgor Dodon
Prime MinisterPavel Filip
Succeeded byCristina Gherasimov (2024)
Vice President of the Moldovan Parliament
In office
2 June 2017 – 22 December 2017
Serving with
PresidentIgor Dodon
Prime MinisterPavel Filip
Preceded byLiliana Palihovici
Succeeded byValeriu Ghilețchi
Member of the Moldovan Parliament
In office
9 December 2014 – 22 December 2017
Succeeded bySergiu Ceauș
Parliamentary groupLiberal Democratic Party
European People's Party
In office
24 December 2010 – 14 January 2011
Succeeded byMaria Nasu
Parliamentary groupLiberal Democratic Party
In office
22 April 2009 – 25 September 2009
Succeeded byNicolae Olaru
Parliamentary groupLiberal Democratic Party
Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova
In office
25 September 2009 – 30 May 2013
Serving with
PresidentMihai Ghimpu (acting)
Vladimir Filat (acting)
Marian Lupu (acting)
Nicolae Timofti
Prime MinisterVladimir Filat
Preceded byAndrei Stratan
Succeeded byNatalia Gherman
Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration
In office
25 September 2009 – 30 May 2013
PresidentMihai Ghimpu (acting)
Vladimir Filat (acting)
Marian Lupu (acting)
Nicolae Timofti
Prime MinisterVladimir Filat
Preceded byAndrei Stratan (as Minister of Foreign Affairs)
Succeeded byNatalia Gherman
First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
22 March 1999 – 4 October 2001
PresidentPetru Lucinschi
Vladimir Voronin
Prime MinisterIon Sturza
Dumitru Braghiș
Vasile Tarlev
MinisterNicolae Tăbăcaru
Nicolae Cernomaz
Nicolae Dudău
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
15 June 1998 – 22 March 1999
PresidentPetru Lucinschi
Prime MinisterIon Ciubuc
Ion Sturza
MinisterNicolae Tăbăcaru
Personal details
Born (1963-10-20) 20 October 1963 (age 61)
Cimișlia, Moldavian SSR, Soviet Union (now Moldova)
Citizenship Moldova
 Romania
Political partyEuropean People's Party of Moldova (2015–present)
Liberal Democratic Party (2009–2015)
Other political
affiliations
Alliance for Democracy and Reforms (1998–1999)
Alliance for European Integration (2009–2013)
Pro-European Coalition (2013–2015)
PRO Romania (2019–present)
SpouseAida Leancă
Children2
Alma materMoscow State Institute of International Relations

Iurie Leancă (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈjuri.e ˈle̯aŋkə]; born 20 October 1963) is a Moldovan politician who was the prime minister of Moldova 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.

Early career

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Iurie Leancă was born on 20 October 1963 in Cimișlia. His father is Moldovan and his mother Bulgarian.[1][2] He graduated from Moscow State Institute of International Relations and from 1986 until 1993, Leancă worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 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).[3]

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 cabinets and in the Vasile Tarlev Cabinet (1). Also, he was the acting Foreign Minister of Moldova 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 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.[citation needed] He resigned from the PLDM in early 2015, citing an insufficient commitment to pursuing pro-European reforms.[4]

Leancă was also the vice-president of The Foreign Policy Association of Moldova (2005–2009).

Foreign and European Integration Minister

[edit]
John Kerry and Iurie Leancă in December 2013.

Leancă was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Integration in the Vlad Filat Cabinet.[5]

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.[6]

Prime minister

[edit]
Leanca with Liviu Dragnea

He was appointed acting prime minister on 25 April 2013 following the decision of the Constitutional Court of Moldova 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 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 with 58 votes on 30 May and was sworn in on 31 May.

European Parliament candidacy

[edit]

Leancă ran in the 2019 European Parliament election in Romania as an MEP candidate for the Victor Ponta's recently founded PRO Romania party.[7]

References

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  1. ^ Iurie Leanca, mai modest decat Vlad Filat? Premierul interimar a vorbit in bulgara la Taraclia
  2. ^ "Iurie Leanca: Romania va fi vigilenta: numarul moldovenilor care primesc cetatenia romana nu va creste spectaculos". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
  3. ^ Brezianu, Andrei, Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Moldova. The Scarecrow Press, Inc., Lanham, Maryland, 2000, 112.
  4. ^ (in Romanian) Simona Mătieș, "Fostul premier Iurie Leancă a demisionat din PLDM", Evenimentul Zilei, February 26, 2015; accessed March 4, 2015
  5. ^ Guvernul Alianței pentru Integrare Europeană[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ (in Romanian) Victoria Dumbravă, Iurie Leancă și Igor Corman au vorbit maghiara și germana în direct la TV, UniMedia, 4 February 2014. Accessed 4 February 2014
  7. ^ Livadari, Arina (27 March 2019). "Former Prime Minister Iurie Leanca will run for the European Parliament on the list of the PRO Romania party". Moldova.org.
[edit]
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration
2009–2013
Succeeded by
Preceded by Prime Minister of Moldova
2013–2015
Succeeded by