Pavel Voicu (born 29 January 1973) is a Moldovan politician who was the Minister of Defence of Moldova in the

Sandu Cabinet The Sandu Cabinet was a Cabinet of Moldova, led by Maia Sandu. History It was inaugurated on 8 June 2019, in the middle of the 2019 Moldovan constitutional crisis when the Constitutional Court of Moldova declared unconstitutional her designation ...

and the Interior Minister under President

Igor Dodon Igor Dodon (; born 18 February 1975) is a Moldovan politician who previously served as the president of Moldova from 23 December 2016 to 24 December 2020. He currently serves as the leader of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova. ...

and Prime Minister

Ion Chicu Ion Chicu (; born 28 February 1972) is a Moldovan politician who served as Prime Minister of Moldova between 2019 until his resignation in 2020. Biography He was born on 28 February 1972 in the village of Pîrjolteni, located in the Moldovan C ...

. He was also a personal advisor to Dodon. He has prior experience in Moldovan law enforcement.

Biography

Pavel Voicu was born on 29 January 1973 in Frăsinești (now Măcărești, Ungheni) in the western part of the

Moldovan SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 1940 ...

. Between 1990 and 1995, he studied at the

Stefan cel Mare Stephen III of Moldavia, most commonly known as Stephen the Great ( ro, Ștefan cel Mare; ; died on 2 July 1504), was Voivode (or Prince) of Moldavia from 1457 to 1504. He was the son of and co-ruler with Bogdan II, who was murdered in 1451 ...

Police Academy. In the years that followed, he held various positions within the

Ungheni Ungheni () is a municipality in Moldova. With a population of 35,157, it is the seventh largest town in Moldova and the seat of Ungheni District. There is a bridge across the Prut and a border checkpoint to Romania. There is another border ...

Police Inspectorate, the Center for Combating Economic Crimes and the National

Anti-corruption Anti-corruption (or anticorruption) comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive measu ...

Center. He held the position of commissioner of the

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

police station A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, al ...

in Călăraşi and Cimişlia and chief of the

Buiucani Sectorul Buiucani is one of the five sectors in Chişinău, the capital of Moldova, and the most affluent. The local administration is managed by a pretor appointed by the city administration. It governs over a portion of the city of Chişinău it ...

and Bender (in the Moldovan controlled area of Varnița) police inspectorate. From February 2016 to August 2017, he held the post of

chief of police Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the b ...

Tighina Bender (, Moldovan Cyrillic: Бендер) or Bendery (russian: Бендеры, , uk, Бендери), also known as Tighina ( ro, Tighina), is a city within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova under ''de facto'' control of the u ...

. On 22 August 2017, he was appointed

Councilor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

to the

President of Moldova The President of the Republic of Moldova () is the head of state of Moldova. The current president is Maia Sandu, who assumed office on 24 December 2020. Duties and functions The office of the presidency in Moldova is largely ceremonial, ...

for special missions, serving alongside Vasile Şova. ERA 6324

Modern career

Pavel Voicu was appointed Minister of Defense, by the decree of the President Dodon on 8 June 2019, officially joining the newly formed

. During Voicu's presentation ceremony, which included

military honors A military funeral is a memorial or burial rite given by a country's military for a soldier, sailor, marine or airman who died in battle, a veteran, or other prominent military figures or heads of state. A military funeral may feature guards ...

from an

honor guard A guard of honour ( GB), also honor guard ( US), also ceremonial guard, is a group of people, usually military in nature, appointed to receive or guard a head of state or other dignitaries, the fallen in war, or to attend at state ceremonials, ...

, Dodon noted that he did not cooperate with former defense minister Eugen Sturza and that he has conviction that under Voicu's leadership, the relationship between the two government institutions (the military and the presidency) will grow. Over the course of his leadership at the defence ministry, he only made two major visits to foreign countries, one to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

to meet with Russian defence minister

Sergey Shoygu Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu, ; tyv, Сергей Күжүгет оглу Шойгу, translit=Sergey Kyzhyget oglu Shoygu, . (russian: Сергей Кужугетович Шойгу; born 21 May 1955) is a Russian politician who has served as ...

and the other to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

accompanied by Ambassador Dereck J. Hogan to meet with Moldovan troops training with the

North Carolina National Guard The North Carolina National Guard (NCNG), commonly known as the North Carolina Guard, is a component of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the National Guard of the United States. It is composed of Army and Air National Guard un ...

Fort Irwin Fort Irwin National Training Center (Fort Irwin NTC) is a major training area for the United States military in the Mojave Desert in northern San Bernardino County, California. Fort Irwin is at an average elevation of . It is located northeast ...

. On 2 May 2020, Voicu announced that he had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

. Pavel Voicu was not hospitalized, being self-isolated at home and later recovered on 20 May. President

Maia Sandu Maia Sandu (; born 24 May 1972) is a Moldovan politician who has been the President of Moldova since 24 December 2020. She is the former leader of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) and former Prime Minister of Moldova from 8 June 2019 u ...

had accused the Interior Ministry and Voicu personally of following her family members as the campaign for the

2021 Moldovan parliamentary election Snap parliamentary elections were held in Moldova on 11 July 2021. Following the resignation of Ion Chicu, the position of Prime Minister became vacant, with the Parliament being obligated to form a new government within three months. After the ...

began. He is married with one child. He is fluent in French as well as

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

aside from the

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communities in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Voicu, Pavel 1973 births Living people 21st-century Moldovan politicians People from Ungheni District Moldovan Ministers of Defense Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova politicians Moldovan Ministers of the Interior