Romania's prime minister accused of plagiarism to obtain his doctorate
Romanian Prime Minister Nikolai Seiuci.
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Romanian Prime Minister Nikolai Seiuci, who was appointed to the post less than two months ago, is accused of plagiarizing nearly a third of his doctoral thesis.
The letter includes at least 42 stolen pages out of a total of 138 pages, according to an investigation by Romanian journalist Emilia Sercan published last Tuesday morning, in which the journalist presented evidence accusing him not only of translating text from other works verbatim, but also of using plagiarism concealment techniques.
Seichi, a former military officer, denied any wrongdoing, and said his doctorate was "prepared according to the legal requirements of the time."
"These public accusations cannot be proven in any way," he added in the statement posted on his official Facebook page following the report.
Despite Cieci's claim, strong opposition politician Dashian Siolo of the Union to Save Romania party called for "urgent clarification from the prime minister and an investigation, adding that if the allegations are proven true, Cieci should resign immediately."
The journalist Serkan, responsible for this report, is known for rigorous investigations into the allegations of Romanian politicians, and has previously received death threats.
This isn't the first time that members of the Romanian political class have manipulated their resumes. Two weeks after the current government came to power, the Minister of Digitization, Florin Roman, resigned after reports of lies in his autobiography.
And in 2014, then-Prime Minister Victor Ponta reinstated his doctorate after allegations of plagiarism he committed were confirmed in 2020.
• Seichi, a former military officer, denied any wrongdoing, and said that his doctorate was "prepared according to the legal requirements of the time."
• The journalist Serkan, responsible for this report, is known for rigorous investigations into the allegations of Romanian politicians, and has previously received death threats.
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