German family minister resigns over plagiarism accusations

BERLIN — German Family Minister Franziska Giffey has stepped down over a controversy surrounding suspicions of plagiarism in her doctoral thesis, her ministry confirmed Wednesday.

But, at least for now, her Berlin mayoral bid is still on.

The Free University of Berlin, where Giffey completed her thesis in 2010, had previously reprimanded the minister in 2019 following a plagiarism investigation. But it stopped short of rescinding her degree.

After the decision was later criticized, the university launched a new investigation, which concluded this month. Giffey was given until June to issue her own statement on the matter. Instead, she chose to preempt the findings and resign from the office she has held since 2018.

“The members of the federal government, my party and the public are already now entitled to clarity,” she said. “That is why I have decided to ask the chancellor [Angela Merkel] to have the federal president dismiss me from my position.”

Yet Giffey said her mayoral bid, announced last year, would not be affected. She still expects to run as the Social Democrats’ candidate in the September 26 race, which coincides with Germany’s federal elections.

“Berliners can rely on me,” she said.

Giffey insisted she did not intentionally try to deceive anyone with her academic work.

“I regret if I have made any mistakes in the process,” she said. “If the Free University of Berlin … comes to the conclusion that I should be stripped of my title, I will accept this decision. I am already drawing the consequences from the ongoing and burdensome proceedings. In doing so, I stand by my word.”

By resigning but holding on to her candidacy, Giffey is trying to avoid joining a list of prominent German ministers whose political careers ended when their doctoral theses became subjects of scrutiny years after they were submitted.

In 2011, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg resigned from his defense minister post when it turned out his thesis contained plagiarized passages. In 2013, Annette Schavan, then education minister, met the same fate.