Vasile Botnaru
The Moldovan Parliament approved his candidacy with 56 votes at a session on April 30. Vasile Botnaru is a nominee of the Action and Solidarity Party faction after a vacancy appeared on the Broadcasting Council in March.
Vasile Botnaru is a well-known journalist in Moldova and is a producer and presenter of radio and TV programs. For 18 years he was the director of the Chisinau bureau of Radio Free Europe. Vasile Botnaru was one of the founders of the BASA-Press news agency and a correspondent for the American Associated Press news agency. He has also worked as editor-in-chief and executive secretary for several periodicals and has taught at the university. In 2009, Mr. Botnaru was awarded the Order of the Republic, the highest state award of the Republic of Moldova.
The Audiovisual Media Council (until 2019 – Audiovisual Media Coordination Council) was established in 1996 as an autonomous state body regulating the field of audiovisual communication.
The Council consists of seven members: three of them are proposed by parliamentary factions, respecting proportional representation of the majority and parliamentary opposition, one by the President of the country, one by the Government of RM and two members by civil society organizations. They are appointed by the Parliament by a majority vote of deputies. The mandate of one member of the Council lasts six years. Its members cannot be re-elected.
