Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu announced his resignation during a press briefing in Chisinau on on January 24, saying that he has achieved the goal set for him by pro-Western President Maia Sandu to bring Moldova, one of Europe's poorest countries, closer to integration into the European Union.
Under Popescu's mandate, Moldova strongly condemned Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and hosted tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees.
Moldova obtained the status of an EU candidate country in June 2022, together with Ukraine, and was given the green light to start membership negotiations in December.
"I have successfully fulfilled the objectives set for me at the beginning of my mandate and I now need a break," Popescu said.
Following Popescu's resignation, the Foreign Ministry will be led by Mihai Popsoi, the parliament's deputy speaker and a member of Sandu's governing Action and Solidarity (PAS) party, while Cristina Gherasimov, who is currently one of the three deputy foreign ministers, will be put in charge of a recently created European Integration Bureau.
During the government meeting on January 24 following Popescu's resignation, Prime Minister Dorin Recean had announced that Gherasimov would "lead the European Affairs Ministry and would coordinate the activity of the European Integration Bureau," giving the impression that the foreign ministry would be split into two new ministries.
However, government spokesman Daniel Voda issued a clarification after the meeting, saying that Gherasimov will be a minister without portfolio and will lead the European Integration Bureau.
The two new ministers will be sworn in next week, after Popescu leaves his position on January 29. He will also step down from his position as deputy prime minister.
Politically unaffiliated, Popescu was appointed foreign minister in August 2021, after Sandu beat Moscow-backed incumbent Igor Dodon in a presidential election in November 2020.
The U.S.-educated Sandu has firmly steered Moldova toward the West and has had a steady ally in Popescu.
Moldova's diplomacy led by Popescu worked to distance the former Soviet republic from Russia, which still wields a strong influence in the country of 2.6 million sandwiched between EU and NATO member Romania and war-wracked Ukraine.
The Moldovan Foreign Ministry expelled 45 Russian diplomats from Moscow's embassy in Chisinau in August after a media investigation revealed that the embassy building had an unusually high number of antennas installed on its roof that were suspected of gathering information for Russian intelligence services.
Popescu worked to strengthen ties with its Western neighbor Romania, with which Moldova shares a common history, ethnicity, and language.
A political scientist and former researcher for the Brussels-based Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Popescu has boosted security and defense cooperation with the EU and NATO and worked to establish the EU Partnership Mission Moldova in May.
He first had a stint as foreign minister from June to November 2019 in a short-lived government led by Sandu.