Politics

Maia Sandu

Președintă a R. Moldova · n. 1972

The first woman president of the Republic of Moldova, in office since 2020. She has promoted the country's European path and reforms of state institutions.

Maia Sandu (b. 24 May 1972) is a Moldovan politician who, since December 2020, has held the office of president of the Republic of Moldova, being the first woman to occupy this dignity. A firm supporter of the country's accession to the European Union and of democratic reforms, she has become one of the most important political figures in Moldova's recent history.

Education and professional career

Between 1988 and 1994 she studied management at the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova, and later international relations at the Academy of Public Administration in Chișinău. In 2010 she obtained a master's degree in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, in the United States. Also in the period 2010–2012 she worked as an economist, serving as adviser to the Executive Director of the World Bank.

Political career

Maia Sandu was Minister of Education between 2012 and 2015, a period in which she promoted important reforms in the education system. She is the founder of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), which she led for several years. In 2019 she held the office of prime minister, a mandate that ended after a motion of censure.

The presidency

In 2020 she was elected president of the Republic of Moldova, winning the elections. On 24 December 2024 she took the oath for her second mandate, becoming the first president of the Republic of Moldova re-elected by direct vote of the citizens. Her mandates have been marked by a firm pro-European course: under her leadership, Moldova obtained the status of candidate country for accession to the European Union, consolidating its democratic and Western orientation.

The challenges of her mandates

Maia Sandu's mandates have been marked by major crises — the pandemic, the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine and external pressures — managed against the background of a firm pro-European and anti-corruption commitment. Under her leadership, the Republic of Moldova obtained in June 2022 the status of candidate country to the European Union, and the accession negotiations advanced. A speaker of several foreign languages and trained at Harvard and at the World Bank, Maia Sandu has become a symbol of the country's democratic and Western course.