Nicu Popescu served as deputy prime-minister and minister for foreign affairs and European integration of Moldova between August 2021 and January 2024, and foreign minister between June and November 2019. In his second mandate, he managed the country's foreign policy in the extremely tense regional envionment shaped by Russia's agression against Ukraine. Under the leadership of President Maia Sandu, he steered the efforts to build wide-ranging international support for Moldova's efforts to maintain peace and stability in the country. He helped mobilise wide international attention to Moldova and concrete support for the country's efforts to overcome the multiple negative consequences of the war in the security, humanitarian, energy and economic spheres. Through circa 160 meetings with counterparts from 55 countries, pro-active diplomacy in the Moldova Support Platform launched by France, Germany and Romania, the organisation of the European Political Community summit on 1 June 2023 in Moldova, and a deepening of the relationship with NATO, he promoted Moldova's international standing and partnerships.
As deputy Prime-Minister, he was lead coordinator of the EU accession process. Under his mandate Moldova applied for EU membership, obtained EU candidate status (2022), the European Commission recommended and the European Council approved the start of EU accession talks (2023). In this period Moldova had been widely applauded for its reform record and the best dynamic in EU acquis implementation among all EU candidate countries (2023).
He previously worked as director of the Wider Europe programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations (2011-2012, 2018-2019, 2020-2021), minister of foreign affairs of Moldova (2019), senior analyst at the EU Institute for Security Studies in Paris (2013-2018), senior advisor on foreign policy and EU affairs for the prime-minister of Moldova (2010, 2012-2013), research fellow at ECFR in London (2007-2009) and the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels (2005-2007).
He has been associate professor at Sciences Po Paris since 2016. He also taught at the University of Barcelona (IELPO). He holds a PhD in International Relations from the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. He has authored and co-edited several books and over 60 policy papers, book chapters and academic articles.
He is a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations, and has been decorated by Maia Sandu, President of Moldova with Moldova's highest order - The Order of the Republic.
