Between 2007 and 2009 and 2011–2012,he was researcher then head of program at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) office in London.[6] In 2010 and 2012–2013,he was Foreign Policy advisor and European Integration advisor to the Prime MinisterVlad Filat. In that post he dealt,besides his core foreign policy responsibilities,with reforms related to 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] In 2018-2019,and 2020-2021 he returned to ECFR as Head of the Wider Europe Programme.
Popescu with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in April 2022
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]
Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration
In the early weeks of his first term in office while the Sandu Cabinet exercised power,he called for the accession of Moldova to the European Union. Among his key priorities were:accession to the EU,deepening the relationship with Romania,not least through the acceleration of joint infrastructure projects - bridges,energy interconnection and roaming liberalisation.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration,under the leadership of Nicu Popescu,condemned from the first hours the war started by the Russian Federation against Ukraine. Since February 2022,Popescu has played a crucial role in managing various crises resulting from the war in Ukraine,including the refugee and energy crises. He played a key role in mobilising international attention and support for Moldova,as well as in accelerating the EU accession process for Moldova. He was credited with building a ‘diplomatic bastion’that helped protect Moldova in the dangerous geopolitical environment shaped by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.[11]
Popescu at G7 Summit in Germany,May 2022.
Under his mandate,on 23 June 2022,the Republic of Moldova obtained the status of a candidate country for EU accession. Subsequently,on 14 December 2023,following a year and a half of implementing the European Commission's recommendations under the leadership of Minister Popescu,the European Council decided to initiate accession negotiations with the Republic of Moldova. During this time,Moldova registered the best dynamic in EU acquis implementation among all EU candidate countries,according to the European Commission enlargement report of 8 November 2023.[12]
Minister Nicu Popescu at NATO Summit in Vilnius,July 2023.
Popescu played a key role in fostering alliances to support Moldova,engaging in approximately 160 meetings with counterparts from 55 states. Additionally,he conducted 76 official visits,and contributed to the Moldova Support Platform,jointly led by France,Germany,and Romania,which brought together more than 50 states and organizations.
During his mandate he played a key role in enhancing security and defence cooperation with the EU, NATO and key member states,leading to the establishment of European Union Partnership Mission Moldova in May 2023,increased military support through the European Peace Facility,and increased assistance for the modernisation of Moldova's national army from multiple partners including Romania,the US,Germany,France,Spain and others. He collaborated with International Financial Institutions (IFIs) such as the EBRD,EIB,and CEB,successfully negotiating and signing Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation with the OECD. Additionally,he focused on attracting foreign investors,diversifying export markets,and overseeing the efficient operation of Solidarity Lanes for Ukraine.
With his Romanian and Ukrainian counterparts,they launched a new trilateral format of cooperation bringing together Moldova,Romania and Ukraine. He also played an important role in achieving roaming-liberalisation agreements first with Romania (2022),then with the entire EU (2023).
As chair of the organising committee,Nicu Popescu played a key role in organising the second summit of the European Political Community,which took place in Moldova on 1 June 2023. Recognising his expertise and accomplishments,on 7 June 2023,Nicu Popescu was invited to join the esteemed Council of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). On 24 January 2024,Moldova's President Maia Sandu decorated him with the highest state distinction,Order of the Republic,praising his ‘visionary’role in foreign policy,commitment for Moldova's European integration,and significant contributions to the opening of accession negotiations with the EU.[13]
After securing official candidate membership status for Moldova in the EU in 2022 and securing the latter's approval to open accession negotiations with Moldova in December 2023,Popescu announced on 24 January 2024 that he was resigning from the government effective citing personal reasons.[14]
The Limits of Enlargement-lite:European and Russian Power in the Troubled Neighbourhood,ECFR Policy Report,June 2009.
A Power Audit of EU-Russia Relations, co-authored with Mark Leonard,Policy Paper 1,European Council on Foreign Relations,November 2007.
EU and the Eastern Neighbourhood:Reluctant Involvement in Conflict Resolution, European Foreign Affairs Review 14:4,pp. 457–477,2009.
Re-setting the Eastern Partnership in Moldova, Policy Brief 199,Centre for European Policy Studies,November 2009,Brussels.
European and Russian Neighbourhood Policies Compared, co-authored with Andrew Wilson in Journal of Southeast European and Black Sea Studies,9:3,2009,pp. 317 –331.
Can the EU win the peace in Georgia? ECFR Policy Brief,24 August 2008,Nicu Popescu,Mark Leonard and Andrew Wilson.
Internationalizing the Georgia-Abkhazia Conflict Resolution Process:Why a Greater European Role is Needed, GMF Policy Brief;Ron Asmus,Svante E. Cornell,Antje Herrberg,and Nicu Popescu,June 2008.
Related Research Articles
The politics of Moldova take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic,wherein the prime minister is the head of the Government of Moldova,and a multi-party system. The President of Moldova has no important powers. The government exercises executive power while the legislative power is vested in the Parliament. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The position of the breakaway region of Transnistria,relations with Romania and with Russia,and integration into the EU dominate political discussions.
After achieving independence from the Soviet Union,the Republic of Moldova established relations with other European countries. A course for European Union integration and neutrality define the country's foreign policy guidelines.
The European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) is the EU’s think tank for foreign and security policy.
Relations between the European Union (EU) and Moldova are currently shaped via the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP),an EU foreign policy instrument dealing with countries bordering its member states.
The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007,it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decision-makers,activists and influencers to share ideas. ECFR builds coalitions for change at the European level and promotes informed debate about Europe's role in the world. ECFR has offices in Berlin,London,Madrid,Paris,Rome,Warsaw and Sofia.
Moldova–Russia relations are the bilateral relations between the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation,two Eastern European,post-Soviet,ex-communist countries. Russian support for the self-proclaimed Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (Transnistria) and a substantial Russian military presence therein strained Moldovan relations with Russia.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is one of the fourteen ministries of the Government of Moldova.
Moldova–Ukraine relations are the bilateral/diplomatic/foreign relations between the sovereign states of Moldova and Ukraine. The Moldova–Ukraine border is 985 kilometers. Ukrainians are the third largest ethnic group in Moldova,behind Moldovans and Romanians. Both countries were former republics of the Soviet Union and are also the poorest countries in Europe. Both countries have applied for membership to join the European Union in 2022.
Official relations between Moldova and NATO began in 1992 when Moldova joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. However,as Moldova's neutrality is enshrined in its constitution,there are no official plans for Moldova to join the organization.
On 28 February 2022,four days after it was invaded by Russia,Ukraine applied for membership of the European Union (EU). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested immediate admission under a "new special procedure",and the presidents of eight EU states called for an accelerated accession process. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen stated that she supports Ukrainian accession,but that the process would take time. On 10 March 2022,the Council of the European Union asked the commission for its opinion on the application. On 8 April 2022,von der Leyen presented Zelenskyy with a legislative questionnaire,which Ukraine responded to on 9 May.
Dorin Recean is a Moldovan economist,politician,and academic serving as Prime Minister of Moldova since February 2023. Since 2022 he has also served as Presidential Advisor on Defense and National Security,and Secretary of Moldova's Supreme Security Council. He previously served as Minister of Internal Affairs of Moldova from July 2012 to February 2015. He has extensive experience in the private sector and in the IT industry with a specialisation in data,including big data,and information analysis. He also worked in development institutions and was previously a lecturer at several universities.
Maia Sandu is a Moldovan politician who has been president of Moldova since 24 December 2020. She is the founder and former leader of the Party of Action and Solidarity and was prime minister of Moldova from 8 June 2019 until 14 November 2019,when her government collapsed after a vote of no-confidence. Sandu was minister of education from 2012 to 2015 and member of the parliament of Moldova from 2014 to 2015,and again in 2019.
The accession of Moldova to the European Union (EU) is on the current agenda for future enlargement of the EU.
Marija PejčinovićBurić is a Croatian politician of the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union party who served as Minister of Foreign and European Affairs and First Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia from 2017 to 2019. She was the third woman to hold the post of foreign minister,following Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovićand Vesna Pusić. PejčinovićBurićpreviously served as a Member of Parliament during its Sixth Assembly (2008–2011),representing the 6th electoral district.
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The Second European Political Community Summit was a meeting of the European Political Community held on 1 June 2023 at Mimi Castle,Bulboaca,35 kilometres from Chișinău,Moldova. It was attended by forty-five heads of states and governments,as well as leaders of European Union institutions.
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Events from the year 2023 in Moldova.
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A nationwide constitutional referendum was held in Moldova on 20 October 2024 on whether the country should amend the Constitution of Moldova to include the Moldovan citizens' wish for European Union membership,in order to make it harder for future governments to shift the country away from its pro-European trajectory. The referendum occurred on the same day as the first round of the 2024 Moldovan presidential election. The proposal was approved and the constitution amended.
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