Romanian PM gives up his Ph.D., two and a half years after plagiarism allegations

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced that he will give up his Ph.D. in Law, which he got in 2003 from the University of Bucharest, due to plagiarism allegations. Ponta made the announcement on his Facebook page. “This is a gesture I should have done earlier, since the moment the first accusations about my doctorate thesis appeared. I didn’t do this because I considered my arguments as being in good faith and because I didn’t want to mix up professional with the political,” Ponta said in his Facebook post. He added that he plans to make a new doctoral attempt, after he leaves politics, and that he will respect all standards and requirements. The PM’s plagiarism case started in June 2012, soon after Victor Ponta became Prime Minister, and just before he and his political allies suspended President Traian Basescu for the second time. Victor Ponta was accused of having copied half of his doctoral thesis, without quoting the sources. The story first broke in international media and was run by Nature magazine and German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. In May 2014, Romania’s Supreme Court ruled that Victor Ponta will not be investigated for plagiarism. Although he has managed to withstand these accusations and keep his Prime Minister position until now, the plagiarism allegations have followed Ponta in the last two and a half years and might have also contributed to his losing the presidential elections in November. editor@romania-insider.com