Maia Sandu

Maia Sandu (born 24 May 1972) is a Moldovan politician who has been the President of Moldova since 24 December 2020.

Sandu was born on 24 May 1972 in the commune of Risipeni, located in the Fălești District in the Moldavian SSR of what was then the USSR.

Her parents were Grigorie and Emilia Sandu, a veterinarian and a teacher, respectively.

From 1989 to 1994, she majored in management at the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldavia/Moldova (ASEM).

From 1995 to 1998, she majored in international relations at the Academia de Administrare Publică de pe lângă Președintele Republicii Moldova (AAP) in Chișinău.

In 2010, she graduated from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

From 2010 to 2012, Sandu worked as an Adviser to the Executive Director at the World Bank in Washington, D.C..

Sandu speaks English, Spanish and Russian in addition to her native Romanian.

Sandu was Minister of Education from 2012 to 2015 and member of the Parliament of Moldova from 2014 to 2015, and again in 2019.

From 2012 to 2015, she served as Minister of Education of Moldova.

She was considered on 23 July 2015 by the Liberal Democratic Party as a nominee to be the next Prime Minister of Moldova, succeeding Natalia Gherman and Chiril Gaburici.

A day after being proposed by a renewed pro-European coalition, Sandu set the departure of the Head of the National Bank of Moldova, Dorin Drăguțanu and the State Prosecutor Corneliu Gurin as conditions for her acceptance of the office.

Ultimately, Valeriu Streleț was nominated over Sandu by the President of Moldova.

On 23 December 2015 she launched a platform "În /pas/ cu Maia Sandu" ("In step with Maia Sandu") that later became a political party called "Partidul Acțiune și Solidaritate" ("Party of Action and Solidarity").

In 2016, Sandu was the pro-European candidate in the Moldovan presidential election.

She was selected as the joint candidate of the pro-European PPDA and PAS parties for president of Moldova in the 2016 election.

Running on a pro-EU action platform, she was one of the two candidates that reached the runoff of the election.

Sandu faced open discrimination during the race for being a single woman, and was openly attacked by former Moldovan president Vladimir Voronin who accused her of betraying "family values" and calling her the "laughingstock, the sin and the national disgrace of Moldova" in remarks widely regarded as profoundly misogynistic.

She rejected the insults in an interview, replying that "I never thought being a single woman is a shame. Maybe it is a sin even to be a woman?"

Sandu was defeated in the subsequent runoff by the pro-Russian PSRM candidate, Igor Dodon, losing the popular vote by a margin of 48% to 52%.

As of December 2022, she ranks as the most trusted politician in Moldova at 26%, with Igor Dodon following behind at 19%.

In September 2016, Sandu instituted proceedings against the State Chancellery, asking to see the minutes of the Cabinet meeting at which the state guarantees for the three bankrupt banks (the Bank of Savings (Banca de Economii), Unibank and the Banca Socială) had been approved.

Prime Minister Pavel Filip published on his Facebook page, the minutes of the last Cabinet meeting, when the decision on granting the emergency credit for the Banca de Economii was adopted.

The minutes included the speeches of former NBM governor Dorin Drăguțanu, former Prime Minister Chiril Gaburici, and Sandu's own speeches from the time as minister of education.

It is mentioned that at the end the decision was voted unanimously.

The minutes were not signed.

Regarding former leader of Romania Ion Antonescu, Sandu said in 2018 that he was "a historical figure about whom we may say both good and bad things".

Her statements were sharply criticized by the Jewish Community of Moldova (CERM), who issued an open letter stating: "The lack of sanctions for [...] Holocaust denial and glorification of fascism in Moldovan legislation allows some opinion leaders and political leaders to not be held accountable for such acts, and lets them create their public image by distorting and revising historical facts and fueling inter-ethnic and inter-religious discrimination and hate."

Sandu replied to this accusation in later interviews by stating: "I regret that my words about the dictator Ion Antonescu were made an object of interpretation. [...] My attitude towards any criminal regime of the 20th century, whether Nazi or communist, which have millions of lives on their consciences, is well known and unequivocally negative. Ion Antonescu was a war criminal, rightly condemned by the international community for war crimes against Jewish and Roma people."

She is the founder and former leader of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) and former Prime Minister of Moldova from 8 June 2019 until 14 November 2019, when the government collapsed after a vote of no-confidence.

One 2019 poll, conducted by Public Opinion Fund, showed that Sandu was the second most trusted political personality, polling at 24%, closely following Igor Dodon, who polled at 26%, while older polls that year placed her lower, in sixth place.

On 21 February 2019, Sandu and the candidates of the ACUM electoral bloc, both of the national and uninominal constituency, signed a public commitment according to which after the Parliamentary elections of 24 February 2019 they would not make any coalition with the Party of Socialists, Democratic Party and Shor Party, and if this commitment were violated they would resign as MPs.

She violated this self-imposed commitment after agreeing to form a coalition government along with the Party of Socialists in early June 2019 as the only way forward to create a legitimate and democratic government.

In the 2019 parliamentary election, Sandu's PAS, together with its ally, PPDA, led by Andrei Năstase, formed the ACUM Electoral Bloc and secured 26 of the 101 seats in the Parliament of Moldova.

On 8 June 2019, Sandu was elected Prime Minister of Moldova in a coalition government with PSRM.

Sandu was elected President of Moldova in a landslide victory during the 2020 Moldovan presidential election.

The first female president of Moldova, Sandu is a strong supporter of the accession of Moldova to the European Union, overseeing Moldova's granting of candidate status, and is considered 'pro-Western'.

She has criticised and opposed Russia's invasion of Ukraine and supported subsequent steps to reduce Moldova's economic dependence on Russia, frequently expressing sympathy and support for Ukraine in the conflict.

Sandu has made anti-corruption, economic reform and liberalisation a central part of her political platform, as well as closer integration with Europe.

In February 2023, she accused Russia of seeking to stage a coup of the Moldovan government and has continued to seek to reduce Russia's influence over the country.