Vlad Batrîncea (born 31 March 1981) 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 who currently serves as Vice President of 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 ...
(since November 2019). He was the executive secretary of the
Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova
The Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (, PSRM) is a democratic socialist political party in Moldova. A populist party, it holds Eurosceptic and Russophilia, Russophilic views, both of which are reflected by its long-time leader and ...
(PSRM) and the ''de facto'' leader of the party from 2022 to 2023.
Career
Education
Batrincea was registered at the Faculty of History and philosophy of Moldovan State University in 1999. After the first year of studies he was expelled due to overdue and absent hours. He followed his studies at Slavonic University in Moldova, where he took his master's degree in international law. Batrîncea is also a
chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
player.
Political career
He was a Member of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova until 2011.
In that year he was part of
Igor Dodon
Igor Dodon (; born 18 February 1975) is a Moldovan politician who served as the 5th president of Moldova from 2016 to 2020. He currently serves as the leader of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova since 2024. He served as Ministry ...
's group that left the communists, setting up the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova. In PSRM, Batrîncea has been on a rapid rise, becoming a Member of the Republican Committee of the PSRM, a Member of the party's political Executive Committee, and since June 2013 – executive secretary of the party.
In the parliamentary elections of 30 November 2014 in the Republic of Moldova, he ran for the post of deputy from PSRM, being the 7th in the list, and therefore won the mandate of deputy in the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. Since March 9, 2019, he has been a member, from the PSRM fraction, in the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. On 9 June 2019, Vlad Batrincea was elected President of the PSRM fraction in the Parliament.
Political position
As a member of the
PSRM, Batrîncea is known for his strong pro-Russian stance, supporting Moldova's accession to the
Eurasian Economic Union
The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU or EEU)EAEU is the acronym used on thorganisation's website However, many media outlets use the acronym EEU. is an economic union of five post-Soviet states located in Eurasia. The EAEU has an integrated single ...
(Moldova currently has observer status in this organization). He is also known for his
populist
Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...
rhetoric.
Regarding the
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
Batrîncea stated on 16 June 2023: "
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 ...
is to blame for this war, and other politicians and important countries of the world are responsible for this war. I am talking about those who fuel militaristic rhetoric in every possible way."
Controversies
On 10 December 2015, in the applause of his fellow party colleagues, Batrîncea destroyed the map of
Greater Romania
Greater Romania () is the Kingdom of Romania in the interwar period, achieved after the Great Union or the related pan-nationalist ideal of a nation-state which would incorporate all Romanian speakers.Irina LivezeanuCultural Politics in Greate ...
, a gesture in protest against an order of the Ministry of Education through which the map was to be distributed, by donation from an association, as teaching material, in the education system for use in history lessons. The next day,
Liberal Deputy
Alina Zotea addressed a request to Romanian President
Klaus Iohannis
Klaus Werner Iohannis (; ; born 13 June 1959) is a Romanian politician, physicist, and former teacher who served as the fifth president of Romania from 2014 until his resignation in 2025. Prior to entering Politics of Romania, national politics, ...
, asking him to declare Batrîncea persona non grata and to ban him from entering Romania. Romanian Ambassador to Moldova Marius Lazurca did not consider Batrîncea's move an offense against his country. “A Moldovan politician wanted to demonstratively destroy an object with teaching use. Some of the deputies from Mr Batrîncea's party found it appropriate to applaud this gesture. Along with Mr Batrîncea was the Former Prime-Minister
, who did not applaude, which I find to be a proof of wisdom and moderation", said the ambassador. In 2018 Batrîncea stated that he did not regret his action, saying it was not an
anti-Romanian gesture, but against a non-existing country. In 2021, the
unionist deputy
Vasile Șoimaru
Vasile Şoimaru (born 30 April 1949) is a Moldovan politician, economist, professor and photographer.
Biography Professional career
An economist by training, Șoimaru worked between 1977 and 1980 at the Faculty of Economics of the Moldova S ...
(
PAS) gave Batrîncea another map of Greater Romania, saying "I found a destroyed map six years ago. If you allow me, I will return it to the one who may be sorry he did so then. Even if he is not sorry, I give him this map and ask him not to do it again if he wants to remain a colleague with us".
Awards
*
Order of Work Glory (2018)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Batrincea, Vlad
Living people
1981 births
Anti-Romanian sentiment
Politicians from Chișinău
Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova politicians
Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova politicians
Moldovan MPs 2014–2019
Moldovan MPs 2019–2021
Moldovan MPs 2021–2025
Moldovan jurists
Eastern Orthodox Christians from Moldova