Green candidate for German chancellor rejects plagiarism allegations

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

In a video message on social media, Habeck, who is vice chancellor and economy minister, said 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 on February 23.

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

Weber 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 would 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.