Igor Dodon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Igor Dodon
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Dodon in 2019
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| 5th President of Moldova | |
| In office 23 December 2016 – 24 December 2020 |
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| Prime Minister | Pavel Filip Maia Sandu Ion Chicu |
| Preceded by | Nicolae Timofti |
| Succeeded by | Maia Sandu |
| President of the Party of Socialists | |
| Assumed office 23 March 2024 |
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| Preceded by | Himself (as Executive Secretary) |
| In office 30 December 2020 – 18 December 2021 |
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| Preceded by | Zinaida Greceanîi |
| Succeeded by | Vlad Batrîncea (as Executive Secretary) |
| In office 18 December 2011 – 18 December 2016 |
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| Preceded by | Veronica Abramciuc |
| Succeeded by | Zinaida Greceanîi |
| First Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova | |
| In office 31 March 2008 – 14 September 2009 |
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| President | Vladimir Voronin Mihai Ghimpu (acting) |
| Prime Minister | Zinaida Greceanîi |
| Preceded by | Zinaida Greceanîi |
| Minister of Economy and Trade | |
| In office 18 September 2006 – 14 September 2009 |
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| Prime Minister | Vasile Tarlev Zinaida Greceanîi |
| Preceded by | Valeriu Lazăr |
| Succeeded by | Valeriu Lazăr (as Minister of Economy) |
| Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade | |
| In office 18 May 2005 – 18 September 2006 |
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| President | Vladimir Voronin |
| Prime Minister | Vasile Tarlev |
| Member of the Moldovan Parliament | |
| In office 23 July 2021 – 28 October 2021 |
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| Succeeded by | Adrian Lebedinschi |
| Parliamentary group | Bloc of Communists and Socialists |
| In office 14 August 2009 – 15 December 2016 |
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| Succeeded by | Irina Mizdrenco |
| Parliamentary group | Bloc of Communists and Socialists |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 18 February 1975 Sadova, Călărași, Moldavian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Citizenship |  Moldova Russia |
| Political party | PSRM (2011–2016, 2020–present) |
| Other political affiliations |
PCRM (2010-2011) |
| Spouse |
Galina Dodon
(m. 1999) |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | State Agrarian University of Moldova Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova IMI-NOVA International Management Institute |
| Awards | Order of Work Glory Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem |
Igor Dodon (pronounced [ˈiɡor doˈdon]; born 18 February 1975) is a Moldovan politician who served as the 5th president of Moldova from 2016 to 2020. He currently serves as the leader of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova since 2024. He served as Minister of Economy and Trade in the governments of Vasile Tarlev and Zinaida Greceanîi from September 2006 to September 2009 and was a member of the Parliament of Moldova from 2009 to 2016. He lost his bid for re-election in 2020 to Maia Sandu, whom he had defeated four years earlier in the 2016 Moldovan presidential election.
On 24 May 2022, Dodon was arrested by the Moldovan authorities on charges of passive corruption, illegal financing of a political party by a criminal organization, illicit enrichment, and high treason against Moldova through receiving funds from fugitive Moldovan politician Vladimir Plahotniuc in order to intercede on Plahotniuc's behalf regarding criminal cases filed in Russia. He was placed under house arrest on 26 May in order to allow prosecutors to investigate the allegations further. The United States Department of the Treasury has also accused Dodon of corruption and conspiring with Russia through his political aides to interfere with the Moldovan elections and rig the media in his favour. He was released from house arrest on 18 November 2022 pending a court trial on all charges.
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Early and personal life
Igor Dodon was born on 18 February 1975 in Sadova village in the Călărași District of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (now Moldova) to Nicolae (died 2012) and Galina Dodon, a Romanian language teacher in his native village.
Studies and didactic activity
He graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the State Agrarian University of Moldova in 1997, then the Faculty of Management at the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova in 1998. He later graduated from the Faculty of Law in economics at the International Management Institute. He obtained the scientific title of Doctor in Economic Sciences at the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova, the Department of Banks and Stock Exchanges. From 1997 to 2005, Dodon also carried out pedagogical activities. This is where he would meet his wife Galina in May 1995. Thus, he holds the positions of assistant lecturer at the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova (Banks and Stock Exchanges Department), senior lecturer at the Free International University of Moldova (Banks and Stock Exchanges Department), the International Institute of Management (Finance Department) and the State University of Moldova. Igor Dodon is also a member Examination Committees at the university graduation exams within ULIM and IIM.
Professional career
After graduating from educational institutions, since July 1997 Igor Dodon has been employed at the Moldovan Stock Exchange. Thus, between 1997 and 2001 he worked as a senior specialist of the Clearing Department, of the Listing Department, administrator of the Electronic Trading Systems and then, Director of the Marketing, Listing Department within the Moldovan Stock Exchange. Between November 2001 and May 2005, he served as chairman and member of the Board of Directors of the National Depository of Securities of Moldova SA. From September 2002 to May 2005 he was the chairman of the Universal Commodity Exchange of Moldova. Between February 2003 – May 2005, Igor Dodon is a member of the expert committee to the National Securities Commission of Moldova. Also, between March 2004 – May 2005, he is also a member of the Arbitration Commission of the Stock Exchange. He was an editor of the Newsletter "Stock Exchange of Moldova" and of the Stock Market Bulletin of the Universal Commodities Exchange "Stock Exchange – Stock market quotations".
Political career
Dodon was appointed to the post of Associate Minister of Trade and Economics in May 2005, during the second Tarlev Cabinet. He assumed the position of Minister of Trade and Economics in September 2006. He held the position until September 2009, when the government of Zinaida Greceanîi ended. Dodon also held the post of Associate Prime Minister under Greceanîi from 2008 until 2009.
In 2005, the PCRM also had won the elections having an open pro-European platform, with a pro-European slogan "I Vote", where the European stars surrendered the hammer and sickle on the red Communist wallpaper.
In 2007, a trend for all political forces was to adopt a pro-European platform for the elections in 2009. In this regard, Igor Dodon, during his work trips to Brussels, had assured the high rank European officials on how he and an entire Communist party were pro-European.
In September 2009, after 8 years of governing, the Communist Party came into opposition. Igor Dodon had lost his ministerial position. He became an MP in the Parliament, which was reelected in November 2010. He had the 6th position in the PCRM list of the candidates. The Communists has changed the European vector, and in 2010 they drifted to east, and self-declared as pro-Russians.
Igor Dodon, in only a year, since 2009 by 2010, became a convinced pro Moldovan – no Europe, neither Russia. "Moldova can become a contact point for different countries; an area where first of all will interfere the economic interests of our neighbors and partners. We are in a very advantageous position in terms of the common interest of CIS and EU and this objective shall become an issue of the external policy."
In June 2011, Dodon lost to Dorin Chirtoacă at the elections for mayor of Chișinău. He took 49.4% of the votes. The local elections have been an occasion for the Communist Party to return to power, at the least at the local authority level. During the election campaign, Igor Dodon went to Brussels where he had meetings with the European officials in order to establish the potential partnerships: "I am at the working trip in Brussels, where I have several meetings in my agenda, including with the Mayors of some big towns of Belgium, with the acting Prime Minister of Belgium and some high rank officials of the European Commission".
Inside the PCRM, an internal fight had existed between Igor Dodon and Mark Tkaciuk. Dodon has had some separate opinion on some policy issues. This independence had raised some fears from the Tkaciuk side, and Dodon was considered a social threat. Dodon has shown that he had an internal support, from some rayon committees of the party. An independent position of Igor Dodon, his rating within the party and in the society, his political ambitions in overtaking the power, first of the Mayor Office and then, in PCRM – all this were interpreted by Tkaciuk as a threat, the fact that made him to speed up and force the actions that led to marginalization of Dodon in PCRM, by misinforming methods in order to prevent him to be delegated at the position of the Mayor of the Capital.
In November 2011, Dodon left the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM) citing hopes that a deal could be worked out with the ruling Alliance for European Integration to elect a president and end a constitutional crisis that had dragged on since the resignation of Vladimir Voronin in 2009. Greceanîi and Veronica Abramciuc left at the same time. "Our decision has a common and complex goal: to avoid early elections, the elections of the president of the country, reshaping of the government and political and social stability. This is the society wish, and this is what the Republic of Moldova is needed – a stability and the economic development once and for all... We left the PCRM in order to cut the 'Gordian knot' of the hate and distrust which for the last two years made impossible any constitutional decision needed for the Republic of Moldova stability" Igor Dodon has declared.
On 18 December 2011, Dodon joined the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM) and, at the Xth Congress of PSRM, he was elected chairman of the party.
On 16 March 2012, three former communists (Dodon, Greceanîi and Abramciuc) voted for the Alliance for European Integration (AIE) candidate Nicolae Timofti as president of Moldova. Later, Dodon stated that he regretted his vote for Timofti.
After he was elected as the president of Moldova, due to specifics of Moldovan law, Dodon resigned as PSRM chairman and left the party, being replaced by Zinaida Greceanîi as interim leader.
Presidency
Dodon was sworn in on 23 December 2016 in the Palace of the Republic. Three days later, the flag of Europe that had flown next to the Moldovan flag from the building of the Moldovan presidential administration was removed. On 4 January 2017, Dodon met with the president of the breakaway republic of Transnistria Vadim Krasnoselsky. This meeting was the first meeting of the leaders of Moldova and Transnistria in 8 years. In October 2017, Dodon signed a law that provides for the reform of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova.
After being elected president, in an interview with Deutsche Welle, Dodon said:
"I believe that we have many problems that need to be addressed together with Russia, this is true. But at the same time, I am not a pro-Russian, not pro-Western, but a pro-Moldavian politician, a supporter of our statehood. I believe that the most important thing is to respect the interests of our own country. My "pro-Russian, is a cliche that my political opponents are trying to introduce into the consciousness of citizens."
In 2018, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was the first foreign head of state to meet Dodon in Moldova. Dodon has also acted to make the Russian language mandatory in Moldovan schools.
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On 5 May 2018, Dodon announced a campaign, which would bring legislation into parliament, which would transition Moldova from a parliamentary republic to a presidential republic. According to polls carried out in 2019 on the topic of respect for politicians of the Republic of Moldova, Igor Dodon enjoyed the highest trust, ranking first among politicians in which Moldovans. In the early years of his presidency, steps were taken to renovate the Presidential Palace in Condrița with the help of the Turkish government. Some of the renovations included a play ground for Dodon's young children and a wine cellar. The renovated palace was opened on 17 October 2018 by Dodon and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
On 16 October 2018, Dodon declared that his country would be prepared to host a Pan-Orthodox Council, where the situation with the Ukraine autocephaly and the Moscow–Constantinople schism should be discussed. He also said that "Moldova will remain a canonical territory of the Moscow Patriarchate." He strongly opposed the pro-Romanian Metropolis of Bessarabia. In early 2019, President Dodon ordered a National Coordination Committee to plan national events and celebrations dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of Moldova in the Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive. The events would include the restoration or reconstruction of monuments and military graves and the filming of a documentary on the offensive. At the same time, Dodon presided over the celebrations of the 660th anniversary of Moldovan statehood in early February.
During the 2019 Moldovan constitutional crisis, Dodon was temporarily relieved of the powers and duties of the presidency by a Moldovan court because of the reluctance to dissolve the parliament as mandated by the Constitutional Court of Moldova in a previous ruling and replaced by the former prime minister Pavel Filip as the acting president of the country.
In late October, he met with Transnistrian President Krasnoselsky at his residence in Holercani ahead of the Bavaria Conference, scheduled for 4–5 November.
In 2020, he ordered the creation of a National Heraldic Commission that would look into the concept of awarding medals to war veterans in honor of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. On 15 April, he ordered the postponement of the Victory Day celebrations to 24 August (Liberation Day) due to the coronavirus pandemic in Moldova.
Dodon announced his candidacy for another term on 9 September, saying he is doing it "on behalf of the people". In his campaign message, he pledged to dissolve the parliament after the elections.
Suspensions
On 17 October 2017, the Constitutional Court of Moldova decided that Dodon was temporarily unable to perform his duties for failing to swear in proposed Defence Minister Eugen Sturza.
On 2 January 2018, the Constitutional Court of Moldova decided that Dodon was temporarily unable to perform his duties for failing to swear in a number of seven ministers.
Several days later the Constitutional Court once again temporarily suspended Dodon, due to his veto on a bill on restricting Russian news broadcasts. This allowed the parliament to bypass his veto and enact a law restricting Russian television broadcasts. The law bans television channels from broadcasting news and analytical programs from countries that have not signed the regional agreement for the European Broadcasting Area, such as Russia.
On 24 September 2018, he was again suspended from his duties for not approving the candidate for Minister of Health.
On 9 June 2019, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova decided to temporarily suspend Igor Dodon as president, and Prime Minister Pavel Filip was appointed the interim president, who signed the decree on the dissolving parliament and holding early elections on 6 September. The document was cancelled on 11 June 2019 on the ground that it did not comply with the constitutional standards.
Foreign policy
Surrounding countries
In January 2017, Dodon stated that Moldova would not officially recognize Crimea as Russian, stressing that "we need to build friendships with Ukraine, we need to solve the Transnistrian problem." In September of that year, Ambassador of Ukraine to Moldova Ivan Hnatyshyn stated that he does not expect a visit to (Ukrainian capital) Kyiv by Dodon because he "doesn't respect the territorial integrity of my country". During a meeting with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, Dodon reiterated that the Gagauz city of Taraclia, which is inhabited by ethnic Bulgarians, will not be affected his government's planned territorial administrative reform.
Throughout his presidency, Dodon never undertook an official visit to the Romanian capital of Bucharest. In March, he announced his belief that Romanians who support the Unification of Moldova and Romania as the country's "number one enemy", going further in an interview with Radio Free Europe by saying that the Bucharest government supports any attempt at unionism. During a meeting with President Klaus Iohannis in New York City, Dodon told his Romanian counterpart that the development of Romanian relations was a "key priority" for his government.
Russia
Igor Dodon is considered a pro-Russian politician and in favor of the federalization of Moldova, which is in line with the views of Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Kozak and his 2003 Kozak memorandum. In late September 2019, months after the constitutional crisis, Dodon stated that the country had abandoned its anti-Russian stance through its partnership with the Party of Action and Solidarity led by Prime Minister Maia Sandu. In late August 2020, he announced his plans to take the Russian COVID-19 vaccine during a visit to Russia in September–October, justifying this by saying that he has "more trust in a Russian vaccine than in an American one".
On Europe
During a 2020 speech to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, he stated that "we support the idea of creating a united Europe from Lisbon to Vladivostok."
Other countries
Speaking in Comrat in August 2018 when referencing the country's allies, Dodon said "we have friends who are close to Gagauzia, and I believe to Moldova, as well, they are Russia and Turkey." In December 2018, following his state visit to Israel, he reportedly said that he is considering moving the Moldovan embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In July 2017, he was criticized by pro-EU politicians for welcoming an official delegation of the Workers' Party of Korea led by former Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong to participate in the 20th anniversary of the Moldovan Socialist Party. MP Iurie Leanca wrote, "Comrade Dodon, please stop! It's time to become civilized and think maturely!", saying that "We are in Europe, we're supposed to be Europeans, where the values of democracy are at the basis of all states." Dodon said in his meeting that he thinks that North Korea "has a huge potential for developing commercial ties, being interested in several categories of agricultural products from the Republic of Moldova, especially about the Moldovan wines".
Position on Transnistria
Dodon has regularly changed his stance on the future of Transnistria. At the beginning of his presidency, he suggested that Moldova be federalized. Currently, Dodon believes that the region should receive autonomous status like Gagauzia. In relation to this, he has said the following: "Pro-Russian president Igor Dodon, elected in December 2016, has indicated that Transnistria's attempts to gain independence have failed: 'They either have Moldova or Ukraine to unite with. Nobody else [...].'" In regards to the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers, Dodon supports the Moldovan parliament on this issue.
On neutrality
On 3 October 2017, Dodon became the first Moldovan leader to ever hold a working meeting with commanders of units in the National Army. During this meeting, he laid out his vision for the armed forces, according to his foreign policy doctrine he instituted the previous month. The doctrine he outlined had called for a complete ban of the participation of servicement from the Moldovan National Army in overseas exercises without his consent.
Foreign visits
His first two international visits were to Moscow, and Brussels. Since he took office in December 2016, he has made 47 foreign visits to 19 countries, with 20 of those visits being to Russia. In late October 2019, he visited Istanbul to attend the opening ceremony of Istanbul Airport as well as the ceremony for the Turkish Republic's 95th anniversary. In February and September 2019 respectively, he attended the Munich Security Conference in Germany and the Seventy-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City both for the first time. During the UN visit, he referred to his attendance as "a successful one" during which he and his delegation "were able to promote the interests and aspirations of the Republic of Moldova on the international arena". He attended the 2018 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony in Moscow in June 2018 and the 2019 European Games in Minsk just over a year later. In October 2018, he attended a summit of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie in Yerevan where he delivered a speech in the French language.
State and official visits hosted by Dodon in Chișinău
| Country | Leader | Date(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 Belarus |
Alexander Lukashenko | April 2018 | |
 Republic of Macedonia |
Gjorge Ivanov | 16–18 July 2018 | |
 Turkey |
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan | 17–18 October 2018 | |
 Hungary |
Viktor Orbán | 15 March 2020 |
2020 election
After the first round, he criticized the Moldovan diaspora as being out of touch with the Moldovan mainland when the polls showed their preference for Maia Sandu, referring to them as "in a real way, a parallel electorate for Moldova.
On 3 November, during the second round of the elections, while Dodon was talking about his opponent Sandu, he modified a proverb and said nu schimbați porumbelul din mână pe coțofana de pe gard (do not change the pigeon on your hand by the magpie on the fence), referring to himself as the "pigeon". This resulted in an outbreak of memes on social media in Moldova. This has also been used as an insult by citizens opposing Dodon, including members of the diaspora, who were attacked by him earlier. Sandu responded to this by declaring that "an injured pigeon came out to the press and began to chant songs of mourning" and later uploaded a video to her TikTok account feeding pigeons, saying that "they are not at fault".
The day after the elections, Dodon met with the parliamentary faction of the PSRM, thanking them for their support in campaign. During the meeting, the Socialist deputies proposed the idea of Dodon to returning to the helm of the PSRM.
He came under fire for not allocating to president-elect Sandu a guard from the State Protection and Guard Service, which is traditionally given to the incoming president at the instructions of the incumbent president. After Sandu was sworn in on 24 December 2020 in the Palace of the Republic, she met Dodon at the Presidential Palace, for a ceremony in which Dodon officially transferred power to her.
Post-presidency
In a telephone conversation with Deputy Kremlin Chief of Staff Dmitry Kozak, he announced that he would be visiting Russia as head of the PSRM. During his visit, he negotiated the extension of the tariff-free preferential exports from Moldova to Russia. Dodon said in an interview with TASS in Moscow that he had discouraged people from pouring into the streets after the election in order to prevent a "Maidan" scenario in the country. He also said commenting on the election results that "there will be a sobering up of a very large number of people who will understand that they were wrong". He also accused Sandu of trying to usurp power in the country. He would later declare the composition of her Supreme Security Council to be a threat to national security. During the 2021 Russian protests, he accused "Western geopolitical players" of "trying to destabilize the situation around Russia", adding that he did not believe footage released by Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny about "Putin's Palace" to be authentic.
On 6 May 2021, he visited Minsk with Zinaida Greceanîi to unveil a monument to Moldovan Hero of the Soviet Union Ion Soltys. During the visit, he met with President Lukashenko at his private home in the capital.
Election season
In May, he, alongside former President Vladimir Voronin, formed an electoral alliance known as the Electoral Bloc of Communists and Socialists to contest in the 2021 Moldovan parliamentary election. The announcement came as a surprise as Dodon and Voronin have accused each other of treason and political corruption.
Personal life
Dodon married Galina Dodon in 1999 and together they have three children: Bogdan, Vlad, and Nicolae. His oldest son, Vlad, is a passionate player of water polo. His brother Aleksander is a co-owner alongside Igor Chaika (son of Yuri Chaika, Prosecutor General of Russia) of the Industrial Ecological Operator company which deals with waste.
Aside from his native Romanian (which he considers Moldovan), he also speaks Russian, French, and English. However, he has only used the latter two in public speeches. He is considered to be good friends with Colonel General Victor Gaiciuc, who is currently one of his advisers. Dodon had proposed Gaiciuc for the position of defense minister after rejecting Eugen Sturza's candidacy. He is a supporter of the Union of Officers of Moldova, where he holds the honorary rank of Major of the Reserve.
On 9 September 2018, Dodon was involved in a car accident on the Chișinău-Călărași highway. Although Dodon wasn't injured himself, his mother and his middle son Nicolae sustained serious injuries.
Awards
- Order of Work Glory (25 March 2008)
- Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Holy See)
- Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh (Russian Orthodox Church)
- Medal "75 Years of Victory in the Great War for the Defense of the Fatherland" (Belarus)
See also
In Spanish: Igor Dodon para niños
