Nicolae Ciucă

Nicolae Ionel Ciucă (born 7 February 1967) is a Romanian politician and retired general of the Romanian Land Forces. Ciucă has participated in several wars, including one in Iraq, where his performance was highly notable. He was the Chief of the Romanian General Staff from 2015 to 2019, and since 4 November 2019, he is the Minister of Defence. He briefly led a caretaker government between 7 and 23 December 2020, in the aftermath of Prime Minister Ludovic Orban's resignation.

Nicolae Ciucă
Nicolae Ciucă in 2020.
Prime Minister of Romania
(Acting)
In office
7 December 2020 – 23 December 2020
PresidentKlaus Iohannis
DeputyRaluca Turcan
Preceded byLudovic Orban
Succeeded byFlorin Cîțu
Minister of Defence
Assumed office
4 November 2019
Prime MinisterLudovic Orban
Himself
Florin Cîțu
Preceded byGabriel-Beniamin Leș
Chief of the Romanian General Staff
In office
1 January 2015 – 28 October 2019
PresidentKlaus Iohannis
Preceded byȘtefan Dănilă
Succeeded byDaniel Petrescu
Personal details
Born (1967-02-07) 7 February 1967
Plenița, Dolj County, Romania
NationalityRomanian
Political partyNational Liberal Party (PNL)
ProfessionArmy officer, politician

Biography

He was born in Plenița, a commune in Dolj County. He graduated from the Military Lyceum "Tudor Vladimirescu" in Craiova in 1985 and from the Nicolae Bălcescu Land Forces Academy in Sibiu in 1988. During his military career, he participated in missions in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Iraq. From 2001 to 2004 he was commander of the 26th Infantry Battalion (also known as the Red Scorpions), with which he participated in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Ancient Babylon in Iraq. In May 2004, at Nasiriyah, Iraq, he led the first battle in which Romanian soldiers actively participated since World War II.[1] He was promoted to the rank of General on 25 October 2010.[1][2]

In 2015, he replaced Ștefan Dănilă as Chief of the Romanian General Staff.[3] His 4-year post under this office was extended for another year by the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in 2018.[1][3] This caused a conflict between Iohannis, the Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă, and the then Minister of Defense, Gabriel-Beniamin Leș, who intended to change office.[3]

The National Liberal Party (PNL) proposed Ciucă as Minister of Defense of the First Orban Cabinet.[2][1] He was transferred as a reserve on 28 October 2019,[3] being succeeded as Chief of the Romanian General Staff by Daniel Petrescu.[4] He became the Minister of Defence of Romania in 4 November 2019.[5] In October 2020, he joined the National Liberal Party to run for the Senate of Romania in the next legislative elections.[6]

On 7 December 2020, following the resignation of Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, he was named the acting Prime Minister by Iohannis. He led a caretaker government until a new coalition government was formed under Florin Cîțu in 23 December as a consequence of the result of the 2020 Romanian legislative election.[7][8]

Currently, Ciucă is married and has a child.[1]

See also

References
  1. Cozmei, Victor (24 October 2019). "Cine este Nicolae Ciucă, propus ministrul Apărării: militar de carieră, cunoscut ca "generalul deșertului", a condus în Irak prima bătalie a soldaților români după al doilea război mondial". HotNews (in Romanian).
  2. "Klaus Iohannis a semnat decretul privind trecerea în rezervă a generalului Nicolae Ciucă, propus ministru al Apărării". Digi24 (in Romanian). 28 October 2019.
  3. Postelnicu, Valentina (5 November 2019). "Cine este Nicolae Ciucă, ministrul Apărării Naţionale. Militarul cu cel mai mare grad din Armată, este generalul român care a condus personal o misiune de luptă, în Irak". Libertatea (in Romanian).
  4. "Generalul-locotenent Daniel Petrescu, noul șef al Statului Major al Apărării" (in Romanian). Ministry of National Defence. 29 November 2019.
  5. Năstase, Mirabela (4 November 2019). "Cine este Nicolae Ciucă, noul ministru al Apărării Naționale". Antena 1 (in Romanian).
  6. "Ministrul apărării, Nicolae Ciucă, s-a înscris în PNL și va candida pentru Senat". Digi24 (in Romanian). 18 October 2020.
  7. "Nicolae Ciucă a fost numit prim-ministru interimar". Digi24 (in Romanian). 7 December 2020.
  8. "Noul Guvern de coaliție condus de Florin Cîțu a fost învestit de Parlament. Mesajul lui Iohannis, la ceremonia de învestire". Mediafax (in Romanian). 23 December 2020.
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