Nineta BÃÂrbulescu (born 23 February 1968) is a Romanian career diplomat, and current Ambassador of Romania to Malaysia and (non-resident) Brunei. She served as the Romanian Ambassador to Australia from August 2013 until December 2020. During these 7 years she also was accredited non-resident Ambassador to New Zealand (2015âÂÂ2020), Fiji (2018âÂÂ2020), Independent State of Samoa (2018âÂÂ2020), Solomon Islands (2018âÂÂ2020), Vanuatu (2018âÂÂ2020), Kiribati (2018âÂÂ2020), Tuvalu (2019âÂÂ2020), and Nauru (2019âÂÂ2020).
Nineta Dragomir was born in 1968 in GalaÃÂi, a port city on the Danube, and attended the Vasile Alecsandri National College. In 1992, she earned a Masters in International Public Law magna cum laude from the University of Bucharest. She was a lecturer and visiting professor for public international law at the following Romanian universities: University of Bucharest (Law Faculty), Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University, Titu Maiorescu University, and the Nicolae Titulescu Law Institute.
In 1999, together with Aurel Preda MÃÂtÃÂsaru, a fellow Romanian diplomat, she published The International Court of Justice and the Law of the Sea. She also published several studies and publications dedicated to new developments in the fields of human rights (e.g., European citizenship), export controls, law of the sea, International Criminal Court, International Tribunal for Rwanda, and International Court of Justice jurisprudence.
BÃÂrbulescu started her career in 1992 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (former Euro Atlantic Centre) in Bucharest. A year later she was appointed Chief of Cabinet at the Office of the Chamber of Deputies Speaker, a position held until 1997. Between 1997 and 1999 respectively, she served as First Secretary of the Public International Law Directorate within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During the same period, she served as senior expert at the NATO & Non-Proliferation Directorate within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In 2000 she was appointed deputy director for NATO and Strategic Issues Department and the MFA representative to the Inter-Agency Council for Arms and Dual Use Export Controls.
Between 2001 and 2005, BÃÂrbulescu was appointed State Secretary, President of the National Agency for Arms Export Controls (formerly ANCEX) and Head of the National Authority for the Chemical Weapons Convention implementation in Romania.
In 2002, the President of Romania awarded BÃÂrbulescu the National Order of Merit for her work towards the national foreign policy, involving NATO and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Directorate in MFA.
In 2010, BÃÂrbulescu was awarded the diplomatic attaché Minister Plenipotentiary for her work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Following years (2011âÂÂ2012) Nineta was Chair of the Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation, Vienna. In 2012, she also was Romanian Sous-Sherpa at the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit.
During 2007âÂÂ2013 she served as Director for OSCE, Asymmetrical Risks, Non Proliferation, and the Combating Terrorism Directorate within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Cumulative (2010âÂÂ2012), she also served as Director for Human Rights and Council of Europe Directorate. BÃÂrbulescu managed a range of security related issues such as non-proliferation, disarmament, hard security topics, counter-proliferation, conventional arms topics (including small arms, light weapons (SALW) and ammunition), arms control (CFE, Open Sky, Vienna Document 1999), policies in export controls, human rights and rights of persons belonging to minorities, OSCE, and Council of Europe.
Between 2010 and 2014 she also served as Member, Vice-chair, and Chair of the Confidentiality Commission of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. She was re-elected for her third consecutive term by the Conference of States Parties (CSP) to the Chemical Weapons Convention as Member of the OPCW Confidentiality Commission. During HE Barbulescu's tenure as official of OPCW, the 2013 Nobel Prize was awarded to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. https://www.opcw.org/about-us/nobel-peace-prize
After being appointed Director General for Export Controls in January 2013 (within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), she initiated a package of amendments to the Romanian Arms Export Controls Law (currently in force).
BÃÂrbulescu also held the following positions in 2013 prior to becoming Ambassador;
BÃÂrbulescu was appointed Ambassador to Australia in mid-2013 by then-President Traian BÃÂsescu. Later in April 2015, she became non-resident ambassador to New Zealand.
In 2016, Romanian exports to Australia increased 86% to US$200 Million. In 2017, BÃÂrbulescu opened the first Romanian Honorary Consulates in Perth, Western Australia, Adelaide, and South Australia. In June 2018, a consular bureau was established (of the Embassy of Romania) in Melbourne, Victoria, providing for the thousands of those of Romanian origins living in Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, and Tasmania. A great accomplishment was HE's successful lobbying to secure the signing of the contract to build the Australian state-of-the-art icebreaker, made in Romania, https://canberra.mae.ro/en/local-news/1090 before the 2016 Australian federal elections. Another one was the AUD 1 billion investment in Romania by Macquarie Investment Bank in 2020, by acquiring the largest EU wind farm, 5 years after HE started to work with the investment bank on this idea https://www.windpowermonthly.com/article/1698140/macquarie-buys-one-europes-largest-wind-farms
BÃÂrbulescu is the first Romanian Ambassador appointed to Pacific islands countries (7). In July 2018, she presented her credentials in Solomon Islands and Republic of Kiribati, and established bilateral diplomatic relations with Tarawa.
In JanuaryâÂÂMarch 2019, she presented her credentials in Vanuatu, Samoa and Fiji. In December 2019, Ambassador Nineta BÃÂrbulescu became Dean of the Diplomatic Corp in Commonwealth of Australia.
In January 2020, Ambassador Nineta BÃÂrbulescu presented her letter of credence to Teniku Talesi, General Governor of Tuvalu, and in March 2020 she presented her letter of credence to Lionel Aingimea, President of the Republic of Nauru.
Cultural Diplomacy in Australia and the Pacific
Ambassador Nineta BÃÂrbulescu, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, honoured by the visit of Their Excellencies General Governor of Australia General (retired) David Hurley and Mrs Linda Hurley to observe the #PacificaRomania exhibition https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ZFxbjPQuZ/
Visit of Honourable Marice Payne, Foreign Affairs Minister of Australia, to the Pacifica Romania art exhibition, Romanian Embassy on the occasion of Romanian Diplomacy Day, 1 September 2020, with members of Women Heads of Diplomatic Missions in Australia (WOHOMA) https://canberra.mae.ro/local-news/1572
Constantin BrâncuÃÂi at NGA, a Romanian cultural event at the National Gallery of Australia https://canberra.mae.ro/local-news/1408 Romanian Queen Mary Portrait presence at the Cartier Exhibition in Canberra https://canberra.mae.ro/local-news/1278 Romanian presence at the Canberra Multicultural Festival https://canberra.mae.ro/local-news/1514 Introduction to the Tyler Collection and Statement of HE Ambassador Nineta BÃÂrbulescu on the occasion of the Great Union Centennial and the Semi-centennial of Diplomatic Relations Romania â Australia https://canberra.mae.ro/en/local-news/1268
BÃÂrbulescu was appointed Ambassador to Malaysia on January 22, 2021, by President Klaus Iohannis. She was appointed as Ambassador to Brunei on March 2, 2021. Mrs. BÃÂrbulescu presented her credentials to the King of Malaysia Al-Sultan Abdullah RiâÂÂayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah on November 10, 2021.
She signed two judicial treaties between Romania and Malaysia on December 6, 2021, saying "These two new bilateral treaties are contributions to multilateralism and cooperation," and adding that "[the treaties] strengthen the future resilience of our respective countries by more effective cooperation in the suppression of crime, these treaties might also serve as an inspiration and motivation for our regional neighbors to broaden their legal avenues with countries from afar." As a result of systematic meetings of various Chambers of Commerce and Industry, MATRADE and maritime ports, the bilateral trade increased multiple times during her tenure. As part of the Green Initiative Team Europe Initiative in Partnership with ASEAN/South-East Asia, HE promoted the project Malaysia HydroBattery for ASEAN in various conferences like in Sabah, Sarawak https://www.theborneopost.com/2025/07/15/borneo-well-placed-to-harness-offshore-solar-energy/ and Peninsular Malaysia. Cultural Diplomacy in Malaysia was exhibited at the Parliament of Malaysia on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations with an outstanding event with support from the Romanian diaspora in Malaysia, making the Art Exhibition 55th Years Of Bilateral Diplomatic Relations Between Malaysia And Romania https://www.youtube.com/live/TAsLtV_cqhU?si=VAw8U-kLka-9bA4r
Nineta BÃÂrbulescu is married to Dan BÃÂrbulescu since 1992. They have 4 sons, Tudor, Victor, Cristian, David and one granddaughter, Cheeva Ioana. BÃÂrbulescu speaks Romanian, English, and French.
BÃÂrbulescu and her family have been residing in Malaysia since March 2021.