page_title: Natalia Gherman
section_title: Political career
hierarchical_section_title: Natalia Gherman / Political career
caption_attribution_description: Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister Natalia Gherman, right, escorts U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry as he arrives in Chisinau, Moldova, on December 4, 2013. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]
context_page_description: Natalia Snegur-Gherman is a Moldovan politician, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration and Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova from May 2013 to January 2016.
  Born in Chișinău in 1969, she is the daughter of Mircea Snegur, the first President of Moldova. She studied at the Moldova State University and completed postgraduate studies at King's College London. She joined the Moldovan diplomatic service, working in several different places before eventually becoming Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to the OSCE from 2002 to 2006, and Ambassador to Sweden, Norway and Finland from 2006 to 2009.
  In 2009, she became Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration and Chief Negotiator on the Moldova–European Union Association Agreement, serving until 2013. In 2013 she became Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration and Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova, serving until January 2016. From June to July 2015, following Chiril Gaburici's resignation, she served as the acting Prime Minister of Moldova.
context_section_description: On 29 June 2009, she was appointed as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, to then-Minister Andrei Stratan. In November 2009, she was appointed as the Chief Negotiator in the talks with the European Union over the Moldova–European Union Association Agreement. She also assisted in the talks that led to the liberalization of the visa requirements for Moldovans travelling to the EU. As Deputy Prime Minister, Iurie Roșca supported Gherman. In a conversation with the US Ambassador, that was later revealed in a US diplomatic cable leaked by WikiLeaks, the conversation was described: "Rosca expressed his hope that Foreign Minister Andrei Stratan, whom he described as a friend, would not continue in the job, and said that he was trying to help Natalia Gherman, daughter of Moldova's first President Mircea Snegur, to get the job."
  On 30 May 2013, she was appointed as the full Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, whilst concurrently being appointed to the role of Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova. She was also responsible for chairing the National Committee for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. In this role, she participated in the Global Forum on Migration and Development and contributed to the 'High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development'. In 2014, The Guardian chose her as one of "Seven women to watch in global politics who are leading change all over the world." They claimed that "she could well be a future prime minister or president." Also in 2014, she was awarded Moldova's highest national honour, the Order of the Republic.
  In the November 2014 election, Gherman was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP), and became a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Policy and European Integration. Following Chiril Gaburici's resignation as Prime Minister of Moldova on 22 June 2015, Gherman took over in an interim capacity. She served until 30 July 2015, when Valeriu Streleț became Prime Minister, and she resumed her previous roles in the Streleț Cabinet. On 20 January 2016, she was succeeded in the roles of Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration and Deputy Prime Minister by Andrei Galbur.
caption: Gherman escorting John Kerry upon his arrival in Moldova in 2013.
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