Elevate your local knowledge

Sign up for the iNFOnews newsletter today!

Select Region

Selecting your primary region ensures you get the stories that matter to you, first.

Romania: council rules ex-PM plagiarized his doctoral thesis

Original Publication Date: July 26, 2016 11:13PM
Publication Updated: April 27, 2025 11:24PM

BUCHAREST, Romania – Former Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta will be stripped of his doctorate after a council upheld a verdict that he plagiarized his thesis.

The National Council for Attesting Titles, Diplomas and University Certificates voted 37-10 Wednesday to uphold an earlier ruling. The education minister will formally remove the doctorate.

Science magazine Nature reported in 2012 that more than half of Ponta’s 432-page thesis, written in 2004 on the International Criminal Court, was plagiarized from the work of two Romanian law scholars.

Ponta denied wrongdoing, but conceded he had not always named sources in his footnotes.

Ponta resigned as prime minister in November 2015 following huge protests that broke out after a nightclub fire that killed 64.

Romanian politicians have often been accused of plagiarizing academic works.

News from © The Associated Press, . All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Associated Press

The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day.

Related Articles