Vitalie Marinuța (born 16 June 1970) is a

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

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 that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(2004) * Military interpreter (French), Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School (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 Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. He would later become a strategy & policy planner for CENTCOM,

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa'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 t ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. 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 the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, the

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...

, and the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization, regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an ar ...

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 Republic of Moldova, the only state legislative authority, being a unicameral structure composed of 101 elected MPs on lists, for a period or legislature o ...

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 president "represents the State" and is "…the guarantor of n ...

Mihai Ghimpu Mihai Ghimpu (born 19 November 1951) is a Moldovan politician who served as Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament, President of the Moldovan Parliament and President of Moldova#Republic of Moldova (1991–present), Acting President of Moldova from 2 ...

. 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 * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Afghanistan) * Chief of the General Staff (Albania) * C ...

until 2011. He played a key role in raising the

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

's standards to the standards of

. 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 Ministers of defense of Moldova Moldovan generals Romanian people of Moldovan descent

Education

Military and Political Background

Minister of Defense (2009-2014)

See also

Notes