Irina Vlah
{{Short description|Moldovan politician (born 1974)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Irina Vlah
| office = President of the Heart of Moldova Republican Party
| image = File:Ирина Влах 03 (29-07-2021).jpg
| predecessor =
| successor =
| office2 = Member of the Moldovan Parliament
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1974|02|26|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Comrat, Moldavian SSR, Soviet Union
(now Gagauzia, Moldova)
| image_size =
| term_start = 2 December 2024
| term_end =
| term_start2 = 17 March 2005
| term_end2 = 30 April 2015
| term_start3 =
| predecessor2 =
| successor2 = Inna Șupac
| term_end3 =
| ethnicity =
| party = Heart of Moldova Republican Party (since 2024)
| otherparty = Party of Communists (2005-2015; parliamentary grouping)
| caption = Vlah in 2021
| termend =
| alma_mater = Comrat State University
Academy of Sciences of Moldova
| native_name_lang = gag
| native_name = {{nobold|İrina Vlah}}
| parliamentarygroup2 = Party of Communists
| office1 = Governor of Gagauzia
| termstart1 = 15 April 2015
| termend1 = 19 July 2023
| predecessor1 = Mihail Formuzal
| successor1 = Evghenia Guțul
}}
Irina Vlah ({{langx|gag|İrina Vlah}}; {{langx|ru|Ирина Фёдоровна Влах|Irina Fyodorovna Vlakh}}; born 26 February 1974) is a Moldovan politician and archdeacon who served as Head of the autonomous region of Gagauzia since 2015 to 2023. Previously, she served as member of the Moldovan Parliament from 2005 to 2015.{{Cite web | author=Vitalie Călugăreanu | title=Irina Vlah este noul bașcan al "Gagauz-Yeri": "Sunt gata să-i propun stabilitate Chișinăului!"| work= Deutsche Welle | date= 23 March 2015 | url=http://www.dw.de/irina-vlah-este-noul-ba%C8%99can-al-gagauz-yeri-sunt-gata-s%C4%83-i-propun-stabilitate-chi%C8%99in%C4%83ului/a-18333472| access-date=23 March 2015}}{{Cite web| title=Candidatul susținut fățiș de Rusia, Irina Vlah, a câștigat alegerile din Găgăuzia | work=HotNews| date= 23 March 2015| url=http://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-international-19718165-candidatul-sustinut-fatis-rusia-irina-vlah-castigat-alegerile-din-gagauzia.htm| access-date=23 March 2015}}
She is the first woman to lead her region.
Early life
Irina Vlah was born on 26 February 1974 in Comrat into family of state employees. She is of mixed Gagauz and Bulgarian descent.{{cite web |title=Despre me |url=https://irinavlah.md/ro/despre-mine/ |access-date=28 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331011123/https://irinavlah.md/ro/despre-mine/ |archive-date=31 March 2023 |language=ro}}
From 1991 to 1996 she studied at the Comrat State University at the Faculty of Law. From 2001 to 2008 she was a doctoral student at the Academy of Sciences of Moldova and defended her PhD thesis on the topic "The modern concept of the development of the civil service in the Republic of Moldova".
Political career
=Member of Parliament=
Vlah successfully ran for the Moldovan Parliament in 2005. Five years later, she was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova.
=Governor of Gagauzia=
File:Vladimir Putin and Igor Dodon (2017-01-17) 04.jpg in 2017 with other top-ranking Moldovan Russophiles]]
In 2015, Vlah ran to become Head of Gagauzia. On 22 March, she was declared the winner of the election in the first round, gaining an absolute majority of the votes. She took her oath of office on 15 April, becoming the first woman to hold the position. Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti appointed Vlah as an ex-officio member of the nation's cabinet and granted her a seat on the Supreme Security Council.{{Cite web |title=New governor of south Moldova autonomy takes oath of office as cabinet member |url=https://www.presedinte.md/eng/presa/guvernatorul-uta-gagauzia-irina-vlaha-depus-juramntul-in-calitate-de-membru-al-guvernului|date=2015-04-15|website=Presidency of the Republic of Moldova}}
In 2019, she was re-elected as Head of Gagauzia in a landslide, achieving the largest win in the region's modern history.
On 4 March 2021, Vlah was removed from the Supreme Security Council amidst a reshuffle.{{Cite web |title=Башкан Гагаузии исключена из состава Высшего совета безопасности |url=https://noi.md/ru/politika/bashkan-gagauzii-isklyuchena-iz-sostava-vysshego-soveta-bezopasnosti |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=noi.md |language=ru}}
Vlah was unable to seek election to a third term due to term limits and was replaced in 2023 by Evghenia Gutul.
=2024 presidential campaign=
{{main|2024 Moldovan presidential election}}
File:Irina Vlah 2024 presidential campaign.svg
On 29 September 2024, Vlah announced she would be running for President as an independent.{{cite web |title=Irina Vlah started campaigning for presidential elections |url=https://www.moldpres.md/en/news/2024/09/30/24007738 |website=moldpres |access-date=20 October 2024}} In her announcement speech she criticized closer ties between Moldova and NATO and increased defense spending and stated Moldova must be "neutral."{{cite web |title=Pro-Moscow, Former Gagauzia Leader To Run For Moldovan President |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/moldova-president-sandu-vlah-dodon/33040048.html |website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |access-date=20 October 2024}} She has also stated that it necessary to "maintain ties with the CIS countries, for the benefit of our businesses and compatriots."{{cite web |title=Irina Vlah: I will not allow Moldova to be engaged in foreign military scenarios |url=https://www.ipn.md/en/irina-vlah-i-will-not-allow-moldova-to-be-engaged-8013_1107783.html |website=ipn |access-date=20 October 2024}}
Vlah claimed she was being harassed by the Moldovan police when she attempted to hold a campaign rally in Naslavcea in a restricted portion of the Moldova-Ukraine border without permission from Moldovan border guards. The police criticized her claims as "groundless, manipulating and of disparagement" and that the border-guard post she was attempting to campaign at was a clearly restricted area and that by publishing the uncensored face of the officer who turned her away was attempting to intimidate the police.{{cite web |title=Moldovan Police turn down charges by candidate for president's office Irina Vlah |url=https://www.moldpres.md/en/news/2024/09/29/24007733 |website=moldpress |access-date=20 October 2024}}
After losing the election, Vlah set up the Heart of Moldova Republican Party.{{cite web |title=Tense Moldovan Election Puts a Spotlight on Pro-Russian Region of Gagauzia |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/01/27/tense-moldovan-election-puts-a-spotlight-on-pro-russian-region-of-gagauzia-a87726 |website=The Moscow Times |access-date=27 January 2025}}
Honours and accolades
- {{flag|Russia}}: Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Restoration of the Patriarchate in the Russian Orthodox Church" (2018){{Cite web|url=http://gagauzinfo.md/index.php?newsid=39823|title=Патриарх Московский и Всея Руси удостоил башкана юбилейной медали Русской Православной церкви|access-date=2018-05-17|archive-date=2018-05-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517153417/http://gagauzinfo.md/index.php?newsid=39823|url-status=live}}
- {{flag|Moldova}}: Order of Honor (2019){{Cite web |title=УКАЗ № 1122|url=https://www.legis.md/cautare/getResults?doc_id=112840&lang=ru}}
- {{flag|Azerbaijan}}: Friend of Azerbaijan Golden Order (2019){{cite web|url=https://azertag.az/en/xeber/Bashkan_of_Autonomous_Territorial_Unit_of_Gagauzia_awarded_with_Friend_of_Azerbaijan_Golden_Order-1334781|title=Bashkan of Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia awarded with Friend of Azerbaijan Golden Order|date=25 September 2019|publisher=azertac}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://vlah.md Personal website]
- [http://www.parlament.md/StructuraParlamentului/Deputies/tabid/87/Id/42/language/ro-RO/Default.aspx Profile on parliament's website]
{{Recean Cabinet}}
{{Gavrilița Cabinet}}
{{Sandu Cabinet}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vlah, Irina}}
Category:Moldovan politicians of Gagauz descent
Category:Moldovan MPs 2005–2009
Category:21st-century Moldovan women politicians
Category:Moldovan people of Bulgarian descent
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