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Berlin mayor hopeful and ex-cabinet minister stripped of doctorate title in uni scandal

A leading candidate standing for Berlin mayor in September was stripped of her doctorate Thursday over plagiarism charges weeks after she resigned from Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet over the affair.

Published: 10 June 2021 16:18 CEST
Berlin mayor hopeful and ex-cabinet minister stripped of doctorate title in uni scandal
Franziska Giffey in Berlin on June 4th. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Bernd von Jutrczenka

Berlin’s Free University said it was rescinding Franziska Giffey’s PhD title – often seen as an important bona fide in German politics – after a review of her 2009 doctoral thesis.

It said its board had reached “unanimous agreement after a comprehensive review”, concluding that Giffey was awarded the title “on the basis of deception about the independence of her scientific work”.

Giffey said in a statement that she denied any intent to commit fraud but accepted the decision.

Last month Giffey stepped down as federal family affairs minister due to the negative headlines over her degree but said she still intended to run as the Social Democrats’ candidate for Berlin mayor in elections in September.

READ ALSO: German minister resigns over plagiarism claims

The Social Democrats (SPD) currently lead the city-state’s government and serve as junior partners in Merkel’s right-left coalition. Giffey has long been seen as one of the SPD’s most promising young talents. 

The SPD is currently polling at around 20 percent in the capital, behind the Greens at around 25 percent.

Giffey, 43, had been dogged by claims of plagiarism since 2019, when the Free University opened a probe into her doctoral thesis on European politics.

The VroniPlag Wiki platform said some 49 of the 265 pages of the thesis showed signs of plagiarism, ranging from unattributed quotes to copying and pasting from other works.

The university had initially ruled that Giffey could retain her “doctor” title but issued a reprimand, fuelling further suspicions about her work.

A new investigation was opened in 2020, leading to Thursday’s findings.

Several top-flight politicians have run into trouble often decades on over their academic work, sparking a national debate about the value of the
accolades and their outsize role in German society.

READ ALSO: Another German minister hit by plagiarism row

Former defence minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg and education minister Annette Schavan were forced to resign in 2011 and 2013 respectively over allegations of plagiarism.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, previously German defence chief, faced similar accusations in 2015 but was cleared by the Medical University of Hanover despite “obvious shortcomings” in the attribution of references.

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GERMAN CITIZENSHIP

German conservatives vow to overturn dual citizenship if re-elected

Foreigners in Germany are waiting on tenterhooks for the introduction of the new dual nationality law on Thursday - but the centre-right CDU and CSU say they would overturn the reform if re-elected next year.

Published: 25 June 2024 12:06 CEST
German conservatives vow to overturn dual citizenship if re-elected

“The CDU and CSU will reverse this unsuccessful reform,” Alexander Throm (CDU), spokesperson on domestic policy for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, told DPA on Tuesday.

“Dual citizenship must remain the exception and be limited to countries that share our values.”

Throm also criticised the new citizenship law for reducing the amount of time foreigners need to live in the country before naturalising as Germans, describing the new residence requirements as “far too short”.

“After five or even three years, it is not yet possible to determine with certainty whether integration has been successful in the long term,” he stated.

“The recent caliphate demonstrations and the rampant Islamist extremism, often by people with German passports, must be a wake-up call for us all.”

READ ALSO: Which foreign residents are likely to become German after citizenship law change?

Despite vociferous opposition, the alliance between the Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party (CSU) was powerless to stop the traffic-light coalition’s citizenship reform passing in both the Bundestag and Bundesrat earlier this year. 

The reform, which permits the holding of multiple passports, lowers residence requirements and removes language hurdles for certain groups, is set to come into force on June 27th. 

But with the CDU and CSU emerging as clear winners in the recent EU parliamentary elections and regularly landing on 30 percent or above in the polls, it’s possible that the party could be on course to re-enter government next year. 

In this situation, the centre-right parties have pledged to try and undo what senior CDU politicians have described as a “dangerous” reform.

“It is not unusual for successive governments to reverse decisions made by the previous government,” Andrea Lindholz, the head of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group said in a recent response to a question. 

“We will maintain our position on this and will continue to strive for a corresponding change.”

READ ALSO: What are citizenship offices around Germany doing to prepare for the new law?

Whether the CDU and CSU can secure enough votes at both state and federal elections to change the law in the future remains to be seen.

The parties may also have to compromise on their plans with any future coalition partner, such as the Greens, Social Democrats (SPD) or Free Democrats (FDP), all of whom support liberal immigration laws and the holding of multiple nationalities. 

‘Citizenship devaluation law’

The CDU and CSU parties, which form a centre-right alliance nicknamed the Union, have long been opposed to dual nationality in Germany.

During their years of governing in a so-called grand coalition with the centre-right Social Democrats (SPD), the parties had regularly made reforms of citizenship one of their red lines, citing the danger of hostile nations influencing Germany from within. 

In a recent parliamentary speech back in January, Throm had slammed the bill as a “citizenship devaluation law” and accused the government of trying to generate a new electorate to win votes.

CDU politician Alexander Throm speaks in a debate in the German Bundestag

CDU politician Alexander Throm speaks in a debate in the German Bundestag. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Soeder

In comments aimed primarily at Germany’s large Turkish diaspora, the CDU politician claimed that people who had lived in Germany for decades but not taken German citizenship had already chosen their old country over Germany.

The majority of Turks in Germany are also supporters of the authoritarian president Recep Erdogan, he argued.

Responding to the claims, FDP migration expert Ann-Veruschka Jurisch said the opposition was fuelling resentments against migrants by claiming the government was “squandering German citizenship”.

In fact, she argued, the reform has tightened up requirements by ensuring that people who claim benefits and cannot support themselves are unable to become German citizens.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about Germany’s citizenship law reform

In addition, the B1 language requirements have only been softened in a few exceptional cases, for example to honour the lifetime achievements of the guest worker generation who had few opportunities when they arrived, Jurisch said. 

If foreigners have committed crimes, the authorities will be able to investigate whether these involved racist or anti-Semitic motives before citizenship is granted, she added. 

With reporting by DPA

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