Nicolae Ionel Ciucă (; born 7 February 1967) is a Romanian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and retired

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

of the

Romanian Land Forces The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...

. Ideologically a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

, he has been serving as

Prime Minister of Romania The prime minister of Romania ( ro, Prim-ministrul României), officially the prime minister of the Government of Romania ( ro, Prim-ministrul Guvernului României, link=no), is the head of the Government of Romania. Initially, the office was s ...

since 25 November 2021 after receiving widespread parliamentary support on behalf of his own party, the National Liberal Party (PNL) as well as the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(PSD), and the

Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (DAHR; hu, Romániai Magyar Demokrata Szövetség, RMDSZ; ro, Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România, UDMR) is a political party in Romania which aims to represent the significant Hungarian m ...

(UDMR/RMDSZ). Additionally, since 10 April 2022, he has also been serving as the president of the National Liberal Party (PNL). Ciucă has participated in the wars in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. He was the

Chief of the Romanian General Staff The Chief of General Staff ( ro, Șeful Statului Major General) is the highest professional military authority in the Romanian Armed Forces. He is appointed by the President of Romania, at the National Defense Minister's proposal (with the appro ...

from 2015 to 2019, and from 2019 to 2021, he was the

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from coun ...

. He briefly led, as caretaker, the

Romanian government , image = , caption=Logo of the Government of Romania , date = 1862 , state = Romania , address = Victoria PalaceBucharest , appointed = President , leader_title = Prime Minister , mai ...

between 7 and 23 December 2020, in the aftermath of former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Ludovic Orban Ludovic Orban (; born 25 May 1963) is a Romanian engineer and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Romania from November 2019 to December 2020. He was president of the National Liberal Party (Romania), National Liberal Party (PNL) betw ...

's resignation. On 21 October 2021, he was appointed by President

Klaus Iohannis Klaus Werner Iohannis (; ; also spelled Johannis; born 13 June 1959) is a Romanian politician, physicist and former teacher who has been serving as the president of Romania since 2014. He became leader of the National Liberal Party (Romania), Na ...

to form a new government, following the dissolution of the

Cîțu Cabinet The Cîțu Cabinet was the 131st government of Romania, led by the national liberal (PNL) Prime Minister Florin Cîțu. It was removed from office after a motion of no confidence passed by the Parliament with a record of 281 votes, the largest n ...

and the rejection of

Dacian Cioloș Dacian Julien Cioloș (; born 27 July 1969) is a Romanian agronomist who served as Prime Minister of Romania from November 2015 to January 2017. He previously served as Agriculture Minister under Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu between October 2007 and ...

as Prime Minister, but subsequently gave up his mandate. Iohannis nominated him again on 22 November 2021.

Early life and military career

Nicolae Ciucă was born in Plenița, a commune in

Dolj County Dolj County (; originally meant ''Dol(no)- Jiu'', "lower Jiu", as opposed to ''Gorj'' (''upper Jiu'')) is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Oltenia, with the capital city at Craiova. Demographics In 2011, the cou ...

. He graduated from the Tudor Vladimirescu Military Lyceum in

Craiova Craiova (, also , ), is Romania's 6th Cities in Romania, largest city and capital of Dolj County, and situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximatel ...

in 1985 and from the

Nicolae Bălcescu Land Forces Academy The Nicolae Bălcescu Land Forces Military Academy ( ro, Academia Forțelor Terestre "Nicolae Bălcescu”) is an institute of higher military education located in Sibiu, Romania. The institution was established July 1, 1920, at the initiative of ...

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

in 1988. During his military career, he participated in missions in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, and

. From 2001 to 2004 he was commander of the 26th Infantry Battalion (also known as the Red Scorpions), with which he participated in

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

in Afghanistan and

Operation Ancient Babylon Operation Ancient Babylon ( it, Operazione Antica Babilonia) was the code name given to the deployment of Italian forces during the Iraq War. Their mission lasted from 15 July 2003 to 1 December 2006. The troops were located in and around Nasir ...

in Iraq. During the latter operation in May 2004, at

Nasiriyah Nasiriyah ( ar, ٱلنَّاصِرِيَّة; United States Board on Geographic Names, BGN: ''An Nāşirīyah''; also spelled ''Nassiriya'' or ''Nasiriya'') is a city in Iraq. It is on the lower Euphrates River, Euphrates, about south-southeas ...

, Iraq, he led Romanian troops in an armed engagement, reportedly the first battle in which Romanians were "active combatants" since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was promoted to the rank of General on 25 October 2010. In 2015, he replaced as

. His 4-year term under this office was extended for another year by the

Romanian President The president of Romania ( ro, Președintele României) is the head of state of Romania. Following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, the president is directly elected by a two-round system and serves for five years. An indi ...

in 2018. This caused a conflict between Iohannis, the Prime Minister

Viorica Dăncilă Vasilica Viorica Dăncilă (; born 16 December 1963) is a Romanian politician, former leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), and was Prime Minister of Romania from 29 January 2018 to 4 November 2019. She is the first woman in Romanian his ...

, and the then

Minister of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

, , who intended to change office.

Political career

The National Liberal Party (PNL) proposed Ciucă as Minister of Defense of the

First Orban Cabinet The First Orban cabinet was the government of Romania until 14 March 2020. It was a minority administration led by Ludovic Orban, the leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL), who received the support of a parliamentary majority on 4 November ...

. He was transferred as a

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

on 28 October 2019, being succeeded as Chief of the Romanian General Staff by Daniel Petrescu. He became the Minister of Defence of Romania on 4 November 2019. In October 2020, he joined the National Liberal Party (PNL) to run as a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for the

Senate of Romania ) is the upper house in the bicameral Parliament of Romania. It has 136 seats (before the 2016 Romanian legislative election the total number of elected representatives was 176), to which members are elected by direct popular vote using party-l ...

in that year's

legislative elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

and was subsequently elected as well. On 7 December 2020, following the resignation of Prime Minister

, he was named the acting Prime Minister by Iohannis. He led as caretaker the government until a new coalition government was formed under

Florin Cîțu Florin Vasile Cîțu (; born 1 April 1972) is a Romanian politician who served as Prime Minister of Romania between December 2020 and November 2021 (acting (law), acting/ad interim between October and November 2021). Between September 2021 and A ...

in 23 December as a consequence of the result of the

2020 Romanian legislative election Legislative elections were held in Romania on 6 December 2020 to elect the 136 members of the Senate and the 330 constituent members of the Chamber of Deputies. While the Social Democratic Party (PSD) remained the largest political party in ...

. However, after the

was dissolved through a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

on 5 October 2021, Iohannis nominated Ciucă as Prime Minister-designate on 21 October 2021. While the

(UDMR/RMDSZ) quickly agreed to renew a minority government with the PNL, the

(PSD) offered to support him temporarily during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

in exchange for agreeing to 10 measures. He presented his government on 29 October. Having failed to win the support of the PSD or the

Save Romania Union The Save Romania Union ( ro, Uniunea Salvați România, USR) is a liberal political party active in Romania and Moldova, currently the third largest party in the Parliament with 43 deputies and 22 senators, and fifth at national level (following ...

(USR), he gave up forming a government on 1 November. He was nominated again as Prime Minister-designate on 22 November 2021 and was confirmed by the parliament on 25 November after receiving 318 votes in favor. He was sworn in the office hours later. After

resigned as president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) on 2 April 2022, followed by a 8-day ad interim leadership of

Gheorghe Flutur Gheorghe Flutur (born 8 July 1960 in Botoșana, Suceava County, Romania) is a Romanian politician, member of the National Liberal Party (PNL). He was also a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD) as vice-president, since December 2006 u ...

, Ciucă was elected as the new party leader. He is the third consecutive politician since 2019 to serve as both Prime Minister and president of the PNL at one point, the first two being

Orban Orban, also known as Urban ( hu, Orbán; died 1453), was an iron founder and engineer from Brassó, Transylvania, in the Kingdom of Hungary (today Brașov, Romania), who cast large-calibre artillery for the Ottoman siege of Constantinople in 1453. ...

and Cîțu. On 26 August 2022, Ciucă signed the first financing contracts of the so-called Anghel Saligny investment program, a foundation whose purpose is to develop settlements for Romanian civilians, formally created as a result of the 2021 Romanian political crisis.

Awards

Ciucă is the recipient of the

Ordre national du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's esta ...

of the French Republic, Commander rank, and of the National Order of Merit of Romania, Commander rank. In 2019 he was awarded the

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the defunct Order of Michael the Brave. It is awarded by the President of Romania. It has five r ...

, Officer rank. In 2020, he was awarded the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

by U.S. Ambassador Adrian Zuckerman.

Personal life

, Ciucă is married and has a child.

References

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ciuca, Nicolae 1967 births 21st-century Romanian politicians Living people Chiefs of the General Staff of Romania Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Officers of the Order of the Star of Romania People from Dolj County People of the Iraq War Prime Ministers of Romania Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the National Order of Merit (Romania) Romanian Land Forces generals Romanian Ministers of Defence Chairpersons of the National Liberal Party (Romania) People involved in plagiarism controversies

Early life and military career

Political career

Awards

Personal life

See also

References