Home » Green Candidate For German Chancellor Rejects Plagiarism Allegations

Green Candidate For German Chancellor Rejects Plagiarism Allegations

Two weeks before Germany’s parliamentary election, the Green Party candidate, Robert Habeck, on Monday rejected accusations of plagiarism in his doctoral thesis.

In a video message on social media, Habeck, who is vice chancellor and economy minister, said that an investigation by the University of Hamburg cleared him of scientific misconduct.

Allegations of plagiarism are due to be published on Monday by Austrian investigator Stefan Weber, Habeck said.

The election is scheduled to hold on Feb. 23.

The University of Hamburg said that standards of good scientific practice were neither intentionally nor grossly negligently violated in Habeck’s thesis, which was published in 2001.

Weber had described Habeck’s dissertation as a scientific simulation in a blog post in August, warning that he would unearth unpleasant things.

Habeck said that plagiarism allegations are also set to be levelled at his wife.

“She is not part of the election campaign. So I will ask you to keep my family out of it,’’ said Habeck, who has served as economy minister since 2021.

Germany’s Greens were rocked by a plagiarism affair in 2021, when the party’s then chancellor candidate, Annalena Baerbock, was accused by Weber of copying material for her book. (dpa/NAN)

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