Vladimir Voronin
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2008-07-14T05:08:28Z
Everyking
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/* As President */
{{for|the late Soviet Arctic explorer with the same namesake|Vladimir Voronin (Captain)}}
{{Infobox_President
| name = Vladimir Nicolae Voronin
| image = Vladimir Voronin 2006.jpg
| imagesize =
| order = [[President of Moldova]]
| primeminister = [[Vasile Tarlev]]<br>[[Zinaida Greceanîi]]
| term_start = [[7 April]] [[2001]]
| predecessor = [[Petru Lucinschi]]
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1941|05|25|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Corjova]], [[Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic|Moldavian SSR]]
| party = [[Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova|PCRM]]
}}
'''Vladimir Nicolae Voronin''' ({{lang-ru|Владимир Николаевич Воронин, ''Vladimir Nikolaevich Voronin''}}) (born [[May 25]], [[1941]]) is a [[Republic of Moldova|Moldovan]] politician. He has been the [[President of Moldova|President of the Republic of Moldova]] since 2001, and the [[First Secretary]] of the [[Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova]] (PCRM) since 1994. He is [[Europe]]'s first democratically elected [[communism|communist]] head of state (the second being [[Dimitris Christofias]] of [[Cyprus]], who is the first in the [[European Union]]).
==Biography==
===Early career===
Vladimir Voronin was born in the village [[Corjova]], [[Administrative Region of Dubăsari|Dubăsari district]] of the [[Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic|Moldavian SSR]]. Despite his [[Russification|russified]] name, his ethnic origins are [[Romanians|Romanian]]. His grandfather was Isidor Sârbu.<ref>{{ru icon}} An early publication about this fact was in 2005 by [[Gheorghe Budeanu]] in the Romanian weekly ''[[Timpul]]'', issue 328 ([http://zhurnal.lib.ru/s/soin_d_j/goliy.shtml Russian translation of the article]).</ref> <ref>{{ro icon}} [http://www.ziua.ro/display.php?data=2008-03-27&id=235180 Ziua, 27 March 2008] (full article in Romanian)</ref><ref>[http://www.ziua.ro/display.php?data=2008-03-27&id=235195 Ziua, 27 March 2008] (Short version of the article in English) </ref> Voronin's mother, Pelagheia Bujeniţă, died on [[July 2]], [[2005]].<ref>{{ru icon}} [http://www.regnum.ru/news/478994.html "Mother of Moldovan President Voronin Died"]</ref>
Voronin graduated from the Cooperation College (''Kooperativny [[technikum]]'') of [[Chişinău]] (1961), the [[All-Union Institute for Food Industry]] (1971), the [[Academy of Social Sciences]] of the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (1983), and the Academy of the [[Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union]] (1991).
He began working in 1961 as the head of a bakery in the town of [[Criuleni]]. From 1966 until 1971, Voronin held the offices of vice-director of the bread factory in Criuleni and head of the bread factory in [[Dubăsari]].
For the next ten years, he was active in the state administration of the Moldavian SSR, being in turn a member of the Dubăsari and [[Ungheni]] township executive committees, of the Ungheni District Executive Committee, and, starting 1983, inspector and vice-director of the Organization Section of the Central Committee of the Moldavian branch of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]. In 1985, he was appointed head of section in the Council of Ministers of the Moldavian SSR. Between 1985 and 1989, Voronin served as first-secretary of the [[Bender, Moldova|Bender]] Town Committee of the Communist Party. In 1989 and 1990, he held the office of the Minister of Home Affairs of the Moldavian SSR. In this capacity he advocated against the use of force to quell the anti-Soviet popular demonstrations of [[November 7]] and [[November 10|10th]] [[1989]].<ref>[http://eurojournal.org/files/05.09PCRM.pdf "The Moldovan Communists: From Leninism to Democracy?"] by Luke March, ''Eurojournal.org'', September 2005.</ref> Voronin was also a member of the [[Supreme Soviet]] of the Moldavian SSR of 10th and 11th legislatures.
In 1993, Voronin became the co-president of the Organizational Committee for the creation of the [[Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova]] (PCRM). In 1994 he was elected [[First Secretary]] of the PCRM. In the same year, he was a candidate for the post of President of the now-independent [[Republic of Moldova]]. In March 1998, Vladimir Voronin was elected as a [[Parliament of the Republic of Moldova|Member of Parliament]], and served as member of its Permanent Bureau, and as president of the PCRM parliamentary faction.
Voronin was nominated as Prime Minister by President [[Petru Lucinschi]] in late 1999, but the nomination was unsuccessful because Voronin did not have enough support in parliament.<ref name=PP>''Political Parties of the World'' (6th edition, 2005), ed. Bogdan Szajkowski, page 414.</ref> In February 2001, he was again elected as a Member of Parliament (the 15th legislature since the creation of [[Moldavian SSR]] in 1940).
===As President===
The PCRM won 71 out of 101 seats in the [[Moldovan parliamentary election, 2001|February 2001 parliamentary election]]; by this time the constitution had been changed to provide for election of the President through parliament rather than popular vote.<ref name=PP/> Following the election, the PCRM Central Committee nominated Voronin as its presidential candidate at a plenum on [[March 3]] [[2001]],<ref>"Moldovan communists determined to keep links with West", ''Kommersant'' (nl.newsbank.com), March 7, 2001.</ref> and on [[April 4]] [[2001]] Voronin was elected as President by parliament. Of the 89 deputies participating in the vote, 71 voted for Voronin, 15 voted for [[Dumitru Braghis]], and three voted for [[Valerian Cristea]].<ref>"Moldovan Communist Party leader elected president", Basapress news agency (nl.newsbank.com), April 4, 2001.</ref> He was sworn in at a ceremony in Chisinau on [[April 7]].<ref>"Moldovan president sworn in", ITAR-TASS news agency (nl.newsbank.com), April 7, 2001.</ref> The Constitutional Court ruled that the President could also lead a political party, and Voronin was re-elected as PCRM leader.<ref name=PP/>
Politically, Voronin has maintained his commitment to the reduction of Moldova's chronic poverty by allocating more resources to social safety net items such as health, education, and increasing [[pension]]s and [[Salary|salaries]]. His tenure has been marked by fluctuating relations with the [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF) and the [[World Bank]]. Voronin proceeded with former President [[Petru Lucinschi]]'s plans to [[Privatization|privatize]] several important state-owned industries, and on occasion even broke with his own party over important issues.
From January to April [[2002]], opposition forces organized large demonstrations in protest against several controversial government proposals, including expanded use of the [[Russian language]] in schools, and its designation as a second official language. While the demonstrations were tense at times, the government did not use force and ultimately agreed to mediation by the [[Council of Europe]].
In [[2003]], Voronin's government backtracked over signing a [[Russia]]n-proposed [[Federation|federalization]] settlement with the breakaway region of [[Transnistria]]. In [[2004]], Voronin branded the leadership of Transnistria "''a transnational criminal group''", and ordered an economic [[blockade]] of Transnistria after its authorities [[Moldovan schools in Transnistria|closed several Moldovan-speaking schools]].
In the March 2005 parliamentary election, the PCRM received 46.1% of the vote, or 56 seats in the 101-member Parliament —more than enough for the 51-vote minimum required to remain in government, but short of the 61 votes necessary to elect a president. However, President Voronin received the necessary support from the [[Christian-Democratic People's Party (Moldova)|Christian Democratic People's Party]], the [[Democratic Party (Moldova)|Democratic]] and [[Social Liberal Party (Moldova)|Social Liberal]] factions, after he promised to deliver on needed reforms and [[European Union|Euro]]-[[NATO|Atlantic]] integration for the country. (The latter two factions broke away from the [[Electoral Bloc “Moldova Democrată”]] following the election, leaving the ''[[Party Alliance Our Moldova|Our Moldova Alliance]]'' (AMN) of the former Mayor of [[Chişinău]] [[Serafim Urechean]] as the second-largest party in Parliament, with 26 seats.) In the presidential election held in parliament on [[April 4]] [[2005]], Voronin was re-elected with 75 votes; another candidate, Gheorghe Duca, received one vote, and there were two invalid votes.<ref>"Moldovan parliament re-elects Voronin as president", Moldova One TV (nl.newsbank.com), April 4, 2005.</ref>
===Main goals of political agenda===
* Closer ties with the European Union;{{Fact|date=June 2008}}
* Solving the [[Conflict in Transnistria and Gagauzia#Easing of Tensions|Transnistria conflict]];
* [[NATO]] cooperation (without membership);
* Friendship with Russia<ref>[http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?idr=1&id=623410 Friendship with Russia Is Our Main Asset, interview with Vladimir Voronin in Kommersant]</ref> and the restoration of the [[Soviet Union]] (the PCRM is part of the [[Union of Communist Parties — Communist Party of the Soviet Union|UCP-CPSU]] led by [[Gennady Zyuganov]]);
* Independence, as opposed to a unification with [[Romania]].<ref>{{ro icon}} [http://www.ziaruldeiasi.ro/cms/site/z_is/news/voronin_bucurestiul_nu_e_fratele_mai_mare_cu_rusia_avem_o_relatie_umana_138134.html Ziarul de Iasi: "Voronin: Bucurestiul nu e fratele mai mare, cu Rusia avem o relatie umana"]</ref>
===Personal life===
Vladimir Voronin is married and has two children. He is an [[economist|economical]] [[engineer]], [[political science]] graduate, and [[jurist]] by formation. He has the military rank of [[Major General]] from the former-USSR Ministry of Interior (equivalent of [[NATO]] OF-6 [[Brigadier General]] - ''see [[Ranks and insignia of the Soviet military]] and [[Ranks and insignia of NATO]]''). Some argue that he also holds Russian citizenship in addition to the one of the [[Republic of Moldova]], because he used to receive a pension as a former Russian Ministry of Interior employee, from the time he lived as a private person in Moscow in [[1991]]-[[1993]]. <ref>[http://www.azi.md/print/47385/En Azi.md: "PRP urging President Voronin to pour light on some details in his biography"]</ref>
It is widely believed that he is the richest Moldovian.
==References==
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| title = [[President of Moldova]]
| before = [[Petru Lucinschi]]
| start = [[2001]]
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[[Category:Presidents of Moldova]]
[[Category:Communist rulers]]
[[Category:Current national leaders]]
[[Category:Moldovan politicians]]
[[Category:Moldovan communists]]
[[Category:People from Transnistria]]
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
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