Vitalie Marinuța (born 16 June 1970) is a

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

n politician and former military officer who served as Minister of Defense of Moldova between 25 September 2009 and 27 February 2014.

Education

* Bachelor of Science in International Relations, University of Political and Economic European studies Chisinau, Republic of Moldova (2007) * Master of Arts in Security Studies (civil-military relations), US Naval Postgraduate School Monterey,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

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 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

(2004) * Military interpreter (French),

Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School The General V.F. Margelov Ryazan Guards Higher Airborne twice Red Banner Order of Suvorov Command School (RGVVDKU) () is a military educational institute of the Russian Ministry of Defense, situated in Ryazan, about southeast of Moscow. It was f ...

(1992) * Defense against suicide terrorism course, NATO Center of Excellence, Ankara, Turkey (2005) * Defense restructuring course, Center for Civil-Military Relations, Monterey, California,

(2004) * Command and Staff officers course,

United States Army Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas,

(2000).

Military and Political Background

He first became a platoon leader in a special forces company in the 1990s, before becoming the military commander of the 22nd Peacekeeping Battalion from October 2000 to December 2002. During this time, he also studied at the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. He would later become a strategy & policy planner for

CENTCOM The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilities of the Rapid Deployment Joint Tas ...

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. From 2006-2007, Marinuța planned and organized activities for international cooperation of the Ministry of Defense with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

, the

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

, and the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...

Minister of Defense (2009-2014)

Marinuta was appointed to the post of Minister of Defense after a vote of confidence by the

Parliament of Moldova The Parliament of the Republic of Moldova is the supreme representative body of the Moldova, Republic of Moldova, the only state legislative authority, being a unicameralism, unicameral structure composed of 101 elected MPs on lists, for a peri ...

and the Filat Cabinet on 25 September 2009. On the same day, he was sworn in by the interim

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, w ...

Mihai Ghimpu Mihai Ghimpu (born 19 November 1951) is a Moldovan politician who served as Speaker of Parliament and Acting President of Moldova from 2009 to 2010. He was member of Parliament of Moldova from 1990 to 1998 and from 2009 to 2019. Ghimpu held the p ...

. He also simultaneously served as

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Afg ...

until 2011. He played a key role in raising the

Moldovan National Army The Moldovan National Army ( ro, Armata Națională a Republicii Moldova) is the senior branch of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Moldova composed of the Air Force and the Land Forces. The National Army is considered to be the regular duty mil ...

's standards to the standards of

Nato The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. Marinuţa, announced his resignation in February 2014 after having previously criticized the leadership of the ministry and the National Army.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marinuta, Vitalie 1970 births Living people Liberal Party (Moldova) politicians Moldovan Ministers of Defense Moldovan generals Romanian people of Moldovan descent

Education

Military and Political Background

Minister of Defense (2009-2014)

See also

Notes