Vladimir Voronin

Vladimir Nicolae Voronin (born May 25, 1941) is the president of Moldova, since 2000. He is a communist and pro-Russian - during his rule Russian language lessons were re-introduced as compulsory in Moldovan schools.

He expressed interest in his country joining the European Union and in 2003 backtracked over signing up to to a Russian-backed settlement with Transdniestr, which would have granted it autonomy.