Luxembourg’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel, has admitted his university thesis “should have been done differently” after a media investigation concluded that only two of the work’s 56 pages had not been plagiarised.
A local news outlet, reporter.lu, said on Wednesday that Bettel had lifted three-quarters of the text, describing it as “an impressive hodgepodge of copied passages that does not meet the customary requirements of academia”.
Bettel, 48, who has been prime minister since 2013, said in a statement the thesis was “more than 20 years old” and “written with a clear conscience”. But “from today’s standpoint, it could have – yes, maybe should have – been done differently”, he said.
Bettel said he had full confidence in the University of Lorraine in eastern France to assess whether the work met its standards of the time, and that he would “naturally accept” its decision, even if it meant his qualification was withdrawn. » | Jon Henley | Wednesday, October 27, 2021
Luxemburgischer Premierminister gesteht Plagiate indirekt ein: Der luxemburgische Regierungschef hat bei seiner Abschlussarbeit an der Universität Nancy plagiiert. Heute würde er es anders machen, sagt Xavier Bettel. Folgt nun der Rücktritt? »
German politicians suffer higher degree of embarrassment from plagiarism than from sex scandals: Third minister in Angela Merkel’s administration falls foul of the country’s fixation on academic credentials »
