Nicolae "Nicu" Popescu (born 25 April 1981, pronunciation: [nikoˈla.e ˈniku poˈpesku]) is a Moldovan author and diplomat serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Moldova in the Sandu Cabinet from June to November 2019.[1][2] Until and after his appointment, he was the Director of the Wider Europe programme of the European Council on Foreign Relations[3] and visiting professor at Sciences Po-Paris, France's top political science university.[4]
Nicu Popescu | |
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![]() Official portrait, 2019 | |
Deputy Prime Minister | |
Incumbent | |
Assumed office 6 August 2021 Serving with Andrei Spînu | |
President | Maia Sandu |
Prime Minister | Natalia Gavrilița |
Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration | |
Incumbent | |
Assumed office 6 August 2021 | |
President | Maia Sandu |
Prime Minister | Natalia Gavrilița |
Preceded by | Aureliu Ciocoi |
In office 11 June 2019 – 14 November 2019 | |
President | Igor Dodon |
Prime Minister | Maia Sandu |
Preceded by | Tudor Ulianovschi |
Succeeded by | Aureliu Ciocoi |
Personal details | |
Born | (1981-04-25) 25 April 1981 (age 41) Chișinău, Moldovan SSR, Soviet Union |
Political party | Independent |
Alma mater | Moscow State Institute of International Relations (BA) Central European University (MA) Central European University (PhD) |
Profession | author, diplomat |
Website | http://www.nicupopescu.eu |
He graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 2002, and continued his studies at the Central European University, where he obtained both an MA and a PhD degree in International Relations.[5]
From 2005 to 2007, he was a researcher at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels, Belgium. For two terms between 2007 and 2009 and 2011–2012, he was head of program and senior researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) office in London.[6] In 2010 and 2012–2013, he was foreign policy advisor to the Prime Minister of Moldova (then Vlad Filat). In that post he dealt, among other things, with the EU-Moldova visa-liberalization process and Moldova's accession to the European Common Aviation Area. Between 2013 and 2018, he worked as a senior analyst at the European Union Institute for Security Studies, the EU's official foreign policy think tank.[7][8][9]
He is currently married and has two children. Besides his native Romanian language, he is fluent in English, Russian and French.
He has published three books and over 60 academic or policy publications. His articles appeared in the Financial Times, New York Times, the Guardian, Foreign Policy, Le Monde, Le Soir, and Euractiv, and he had a blog on the EUobserver.[10]
In the early weeks of his term, he called for the accession of Moldova to the European Union. Among his key priorities were: the creation of joint infrastructure projects with Romania and the rest of the EU. He sought to accelerate the building of a new gas pipeline connecting Moldova to Romania, the abolition of roaming costs with Romania and the rest of the EU, and the building of new bridges to Romania. He has also called for the normalization of Moldova's relations with Russia.[11][12]
Books:
Selected Policy Papers
Gavrilița Cabinet (2021) | ||
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Prime Minister | Natalia Gavrilița | ![]() |
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Sandu Cabinet (2019) | ||
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Prime Minister | Maia Sandu | ![]() |
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National libraries | |
Other |
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