A prominent member of the Democratic Party leadership, career diplomat Andrei Popov, the incumbent Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Austria, has stated at a news conference in Infotag on Thursday that he is not a candidate for Moldova’s prime minister, and that rumors about this are absolutely unfounded.

 

Popov said that nobody in the Democratic Party or elsewhere has ever offered him such a post, and this issue has never been discussed.

 

The diplomat said: “I have been one step from retiring from the National Political Council of the Democratic Party. Such is my well-thought, hard decision. At the nearest meeting of the DP Council, I will officially announce my decision and will explain it to my party comrades”.

 

Andrei Popov presented two important factors that influenced his decision to quit the DP Council, but not the party.

 

“Firstly, I have lately found myself in a situation when I must decide between being a loyal and devoted member of the party team without commenting the party’s line, and between defending my personal opinion. Secondly, my communication with DP Chairman Marian Lupu has practically ceased. I have learnt that Marian Lupu strands up for my dismissal as Ambassador to Austria – allegedly for statements which I have never made”, stated Andrei Popov, 43, the son of Moldova’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs Mihai Popov.