Viorel Ursu is the Ambassador of the Republic of Moldova to the United States of America. He started his post in Washington D.C. in September 2022.  

Ambassador Ursu has worked for two decades in the field of international development assistance and academia. He has deep expertise in European, Trans-Atlantic and Eurasian affairs, with a focus on democratic practice, diplomatic relations, human rights, anti-corruption, media, and civil society development.

Before assuming his current duties, since 2014, Ursu served as Division Director for Europe and Eurasia at the Open Society Foundations in London, UK. Ursu spent over a decade in Brussels, Belgium, as a Senior Policy Analysist at the Open Society European Policy Institute, where he developed deep knowledge and practice of the European Union’s policymaking and funding mechanisms. Prior to his move abroad, Ursu was a lecturer of International Law and Human Rights at the Moldova State University, which he graduated in 1997. During 1999-2002, Mr. Ursu managed the establishment of a Master’s Degree in EU Law and Human Rights at the Law School of the Moldova State University with the support of the EU-TEMPUS Program. Ursu is also a graduate of the College of Europe from Warsaw, with a Master in European Studies and EU Law. He received his initial training at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Moldova in 1996-97. Over the years he pursued studying programs at University of Fribourg, Switzerland, Montesquieu University, France, University of Navarra, Spain, and Harvard University, USA. Ursu grew up in Chișinău, where he received his primary and secondary education at the Romanian-French Lyceum.

Ambassador Ursu speaks Romanian, French, English, and Russian.