Irina Vlah

Irina Vlah (born 26 February 1974) is a Moldovan Gagauzian politician, who served as Head of the autonomous region of Gagauzia since 2015 to 2023. Previously, she served as member of the Moldovan Parliament from 2005 to 2015.

The first woman to lead her region, Vlah has been ranked on opinion polls as one of the most trusted Moldovan politicians. She is a member of the pro-Russian Party of Socialists.

Early life
Irina Vlah was born on 26 February 1974 in Comrat into family of state employees. She is of mixed Gagauz and Bulgarian descent.

From 1991 to 1996 she studied at the Comrat State University at the Faculty of Law. From 2001 to 2008 she was a doctoral student at the Academy of Sciences of Moldova and defended her PhD thesis on the topic "The modern concept of the development of the civil service in the Republic of Moldova".

Career
Vlah became a lawyer in 1996, working at the tax inspectorate.

Between 2003 and 2005, she headed the legal department of the Executive Committee of Gagauzia.

Vlah successfully ran for the Moldovan Parliament in 2005. Five years later, she was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova.

In 2015, Vlah ran to become Head of Gagauzia. On 22 March, she was declared the winner of the election in the first round, gaining an absolute majority of the votes. She took her oath of office on 15 April, becoming the first woman to hold the position. Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti appointed Vlah as an ex-officio member of the nation's cabinet and granted her a seat on the Supreme Security Council.

In 2019, she was re-elected as Head of Gagauzia in a landslide, achieving the largest win in the region's modern history.

On 4 March 2021, Vlah was removed from the Supreme Security Council amidst a reshuffle.

Honours and accolades

 * 🇷🇺 Russia: Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Restoration of the Patriarchate in the Russian Orthodox Church" (2018)
 * 🇲🇩 Moldova: Order of Honor (2019)
 * 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan: Friend of Azerbaijan Golden Order (2019)