Eugen Sturza was sworn in as minister of defense. On October 24, after Speaker of Parliament Andrian Candu, who holds office of President of Moldova on an interim basis, signed the decree by which Eugen Sturza was appointed minister of defense, the minister designate took an oath of allegiance at the State Residence, IPN reports.
Andrian Candu said the Republic of Moldova needs a functional government and functional institutions as well as a functional army and ministry of defense, with functional administration. “The minister of defense was appointed by a special, I would say unique procedure, and by an exceptional legal solution owing to the President of the Republic of Moldova Igor Dodon’s refusal to accept the candidate for minister of defense proposed by the Prime Minister and the Government. I hope a lot that by today’s appointment of the minister of defense, the institutional crisis we reached will end and we will no longer have such exceptional situations and each institution will be functional,” stated Andrian Candu.
Attending the ceremony, Prime Minister Pavel Filip said an uncertain period that lasted too long in the Republic of Moldova came to an end and from today the Ministry of Defense will have a manger. “The mandate of Mister Minister Eugen Sturza is complex, first of all because we are in a period when we work out defense strategies and secondly because the National Army is being reformed and the tasks that you have in front of you are complex,” stated the Premier.
Eugen Sturza said he would like the Republic of Moldova to turn from a consumer of security into a provider of security. The National Army needs to be modernized and its personnel should be extended and trained. “I will primarily focus on the improvement of the international cooperation with the foreign partners, which was affected in the past by the blockage at the Ministry of Defense and by the non-participation by the National Army’s contingent in foreign events and missions. It is very important for the National Army not to be involved in political games as there is a risk that we could weaken it further,” said the newly appointed minister of defense.
Eugen Struza, who headed the staff of Iurie Leanca when this was Prime Minister, is the deputy chairman of the European People’s Party of Moldova, which is headed by Iurie Leanca.
