Holder of a PhD in International Law from the Institute, Minister Teodor Meleşcanu, a seasoned career diplomat, assumed his role as Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs on 4 January 2017. Mr Meleşcanu is also a member of the Romanian Parliament, representing the Prahova constituency in the Senate. In 2015, one year before being re-elected in the Romanian Senate for a 4th term, he held the office of State Advisor on defence and security matters in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. In 2014, he also filled the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs.
During his longstanding career with Romania’s public sector, he also served as Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (2012-2014), Interim Minister for Justice (2008), Minister of Defence (2007-2008), State Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs (1992- 1996), Under-Secretary of State and Secretary of State within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1990-1991). For 22 years (1966-1990), Mr. Melescanu was a diplomat within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Legal and Treaties Directorate.
Mr Meleşcanu’s scientific and academic activity spans more than three decades, including positions such as Deputy Chairman of the Association for International Law and International Relations (ADIRI) in Bucharest. He is also a member of the Institute for Political Studies in Bucharest, the European Academy for Economic and Cultural Relations and the International Law Commission of the United Nations (1996-2011), which he chaired in 2004. He was awarded the Doctor Honoris Causa title from the Institute for Diplomatic Studies in Mexico City (1983); the University for Humanistic Sciences in Chișinău, Republic of Moldova (2003) and Andrei Saguna University in Constanța (2014).
Teodor Meleșcanu has been a professor at Romania’s doctoral school of the National School of Political Sciences and Public Administration since 2013 and has taught as a professor and doctoral supervisor at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Bucharest (1992-2013). He was also a professor at the National School of Political Sciences and Public Administration (NSPSPA) between 1990 and 1991 and has authored several scientific studies and articles on international law, general security and international relations.