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Norway’s higher education minister resigns over plagiarism scandal

Norway's research and higher education minister Sandra Borch resigned on Friday after admitting plagiarising other students' work, including their faults, in her masters' dissertation.

Published: 20 January 2024 08:52 CET

Minister of Research and Education Sandra Borch is pictured on 19th January 2024 at a press conference in Oslo

Minister of Research and Education Sandra Borch is pictured on 19th January 2024 at a press conference in Oslo where she announced she was stepping down after it was revealed her 2014 masters' thesis contained passages that were identical to olde theses from other students. Photo: Rodrigo Freitas / NTB

“I made a big mistake,” the 35-year-old Borch told a hastily arranged press conference. “I used the texts of other dissertations without quoting the source. I am sorry.”

Norwegian media had earlier highlighted similarities between her 2014 text and other works, notably those of two other students. None had been quoted in references.

A student who revealed the affair on X, the former Twitter, said Borch had lifted word for word a passage from another dissertation and left the typing mistakes.

The issue is particularly embarrassing for Borch because she decided last week to take to the Supreme Court the case of a student who had been cleared on appeal of self-plagiarism for using passages of her own work.

The Centre Party deputy became higher education minister last year in the centre-left government after previously serving as agriculture minister from 2021 to 2023.

Borch’s dissertation at Tromso university in 2014 focused on safety regulations in the oil industry.

Several members of the Norwegian government have resigned in recent months because of conflicts of interest controversies.

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Norway's PM says country is ready to recognise a Palestinian state

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told reporters that such a decision would need to be taken in close coordination with “like-minded countries”.

“Norway stands ready to recognise the state of Palestine,” Støre told a joint press conference with Sanchez.

“We have not set a firm timetable,” Støre added.

In November, Norway’s parliament adopted a government proposal for the country to be prepared to recognise an independent Palestinian state.

Norway also hosted Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at the beginning of the 1990s, which led to the Oslo Accords.

Sanchez is currently on a tour of Poland, Norway and Ireland this week to drum up support for the recognition of a Palestinian state, according to a Spanish government spokesperson.

Speaking alongside Støre, Sanchez said Spain was “committed to recognising Palestine as a state, as soon as possible, when the conditions are appropriate, and in a way that can have the most positive impact to the peace process.”

On March 22nd, Spain issued a statement with Ireland, Malta and Slovenia on the sidelines of an EU leaders summit, saying they were “ready to recognise Palestine” in a move that would happen when “the circumstances are right”.

Last week, Sanchez told reporters travelling with him on his Middle East tour that he hoped it would happen by the end of June.

Støre on Friday said that he welcomed Sanchez’s initiative to consult among countries to “strengthen coordination”.

“We will intensify that coordination in the weeks to come,” Støre said.

The Spanish leader has repeatedly angered Israel with his outspoken comments since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.

The war in the Gaza Strip erupted after Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,634 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

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