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Nicolae Ciucă
Nicolae-Ciucă (cropped).jpg
Official portrait, 2021
President of the Senate of Romania
In office
13 June 2023 – 23 December 2024
Preceded by Alina Gorghiu (acting)
Succeeded by Ilie Bolojan
Prime Minister of Romania
In office
25 November 2021 – 12 June 2023
President Klaus Iohannis
Deputy Hunor Kelemen
Sorin Grindeanu
Preceded by Florin Cîțu
Succeeded by Cătălin Predoiu (acting)
Marcel Ciolacu
Acting
7 December 2020 – 23 December 2020
President Klaus Iohannis
Deputy Raluca Turcan
Preceded by Ludovic Orban
Succeeded by Florin Cîțu
Minister of National Defence
In office
4 November 2019 – 25 November 2021
Prime Minister Ludovic Orban
Himself
Florin Cîțu
Preceded by Gabriel-Beniamin Leș [ro]
Succeeded by Vasile Dîncu
President of the National Liberal Party
In office
10 April 2022 – 25 November 2024
Preceded by Gheorghe Flutur (acting)
Succeeded by Ilie Bolojan (acting)
Senator of Romania
Assumed office
21 December 2020
Constituency Dolj County
Chief of the Romanian General Staff
In office
1 January 2015 – 28 October 2019
President Klaus Iohannis
Preceded by Ștefan Dănilă [ro]
Succeeded by Daniel Petrescu
Personal details
Born (1967-02-07) 7 February 1967 (age 58)
Plenița, Dolj County, Socialist Republic of Romania
Political party National Liberal Party (2020–present)
Other political
affiliations
Romanian Communist Party (1986—1989)
Spouse Cristina Maria Ciucă
Children 1
Awards
  • Ordre national du Mérite, Commander rank
  • National Order of Merit (Romania), Commander rank
  • Order of the Star of Romania, Officer rank
  • Legion of Merit
Military service
Branch/service Romanian Land Forces
Years of service 1988–2019
Rank General
Commands
  • 26th Infantry Battalion "Red Scorpions"
  • Chief of the Romanian General Staff
Battles/wars

Nicolae Ionel Ciucă (born 22 September 1967) is a Romanian politician and a retired general. He used to be a leader in the Romanian Land Forces. From November 2021 to June 2023, he served as the Prime Minister of Romania. He was supported by his party, the National Liberal Party (PNL), and other major parties. Since April 2022, he has also been the president of the National Liberal Party. In June 2023, he stepped down as prime minister as part of an agreement with another political party. He was then replaced temporarily by Cătălin Predoiu and later by Marcel Ciolacu.

Ciucă has taken part in military missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was the top military leader, known as the Chief of the Romanian General Staff, from 2015 to 2019. After that, he became the Minister of Defence from 2019 to 2021. For a short time in December 2020, he was the acting leader of the Romanian government. In November 2021, he was chosen again to form a new government and became prime minister.

Early Life and School

Nicolae Ciucă was born in Plenița, a town in Dolj County, Romania. This happened on 7 February 1967. He finished high school at the Tudor Vladimirescu Military Lyceum in Craiova in 1985. Later, in 1988, he graduated from the Nicolae Bălcescu Land Forces Academy in Sibiu.

Military Career and Missions

During his time in the military, Nicolae Ciucă served in several important missions. He was deployed to Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Iraq. From 2001 to 2004, he led the 26th Infantry Battalion, also known as the "Red Scorpions." With this group, he participated in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Ancient Babylon in Iraq. He was promoted to the rank of General on 25 October 2010.

In 2015, he became the Chief of the Romanian General Staff, which is a very high military position. His four-year term was extended for another year by the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in 2018.

Political Career and Leadership

In October 2019, Nicolae Ciucă became the Minister of Defense in the government led by Ludovic Orban. He officially retired from the military on 28 October 2019. In October 2020, he joined the National Liberal Party (PNL). He ran for a seat in the Senate of Romania in the 2020 elections and was elected.

On 7 December 2020, after the prime minister resigned, Ciucă was named acting prime minister. He led the government temporarily until a new government was formed later that month.

In October 2021, after the previous government ended, President Iohannis asked Ciucă to try and form a new government. He presented his plans, but at first, he couldn't get enough support from other parties. However, he was nominated again in November 2021. On 25 November, the parliament approved him with many votes, and he became the Prime Minister of Romania.

After the previous leader of the National Liberal Party resigned in April 2022, Ciucă was elected as the new head of the party. This meant he was both the prime minister and the leader of his party.

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Ciucă (right) meeting European Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli (left) during a conference in Bucharest on 6 March 2023

In August 2022, Ciucă signed the first agreements for the Anghel Saligny investment program. This program aims to help develop towns and cities for Romanian citizens.

In March 2023, Ciucă introduced an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant named ION. This AI was meant to check social media to understand what Romanian people wanted and thought. However, it was later revealed that the AI wasn't actually generating responses on its own. Instead, a human operator was choosing pre-written answers. Also, only positive messages received by ION were shared publicly.

On 12 June 2023, Nicolae Ciucă resigned as prime minister. This was part of an agreement between the political parties. He was replaced by Marcel Ciolacu. The very next day, on 13 June 2023, Ciucă became the President of the Senate of Romania.

Awards and Honors

Nicolae Ciucă has received several important awards for his service. He was given the Commander rank of the Ordre national du Mérite from France. He also received the Commander rank of the National Order of Merit from Romania. In 2019, he was awarded the Officer rank of the Order of the Star of Romania. In 2020, he received the Legion of Merit from the U.S. Ambassador.

Personal Life

Nicolae Ciucă is married to Cristina Maria Ciucă. They have one child together.

See also

  • Orban I Cabinet
  • Orban II Cabinet
  • Cîțu Cabinet
  • Ciucă Cabinet
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