Interior Minister Lucian Bodet says he and the NLP will make the decision in a way that does not affect “neither the image nor the course” of the party, nor does it give “gratification to lies and misinformation.” Bode said this when asked about the claims about his plagiarism made by President Iohannis, who said on Thursday that it was “obvious” that there were problems and that he expected “a clear decision to be made” no later than government report in May.

The Minister of the Interior, who has a decision on plagiarism from UBB, did not hesitate to attack the USR again when asked about his plagiarism and about Iohannis’s statements on the subject, Bode claimed that “Union Sabotage Romania, destroyers of this country”, they tried to create in public image that he is a plagiarist and that he is a “thief”.

“I am determined to show the truth”

• “Those from the EDR hurled insults and baseless accusations, investing millions of euros in campaigns and attacks against me.
• I am determined to show the truth. I already explained in PNL a week ago, I will explain when it is needed in the party.
• Be assured that the PNL will take a decision together with me so that we do not in any way affect the image of the PNL or the course of the PNL, but we also do not give in to lies and misinformation,” Minister Lucian Bode said on Thursday in Albica , quoted by News.ro.

“I have the conviction, confidence and courage to say that I have not violated any provision of the law”

When asked about his retention as minister and general secretary in the PNL, Lucian Bode answered:

• “PNL will decide where I’m most useful and in what capacity from a 2024 perspective.”

Regarding the plagiarism allegations and the UBB’s decision in his case, Bode argued that there is only one institution in Romania authorized to offer or revoke a doctorate, the CNATDCU.

• “In 2018, following all current legal provisions, I had a complete file with everything that means the anti-plagiarism report, the report of the commission formed by the professors of the University of Bucharest, the University of Babes-Boglia Cluj-Napoca. and the University of West Timisoara, I submitted this file to CNATDCU, and ten months later, in 2019, CNATDCU had three options: to propose to complete the file, to reject the offer of the doctoral school, or to propose to the Ministry of Education to grant a doctoral degree.
• He chose the third option. Therefore, I have the conviction, confidence and courage to say that I have not violated any provision of the law. I went through each procedure in such a way that I would not be in a situation to give public explanations. I have peace of mind that I respected the law and that the institutions spoke,” Bode added.

Chuke: “We will have an explanation at the party level”

Prime Minister Nikolay Chuke also responded to journalists’ questions after the head of state’s statements, but did not say anything clearly:

• “This is a correct and natural statement, in full accordance with what I said when I had other statements on this topic.
• At the party level, we will have clarifications and, depending on this, we will be able to make a decision.”

Asked if Yohannis’ message was strong enough for Lucian Bode to have no business in government, Chuke said: “This is the message the president has given before. We are currently analyzing in order to make a decision before the barrier.”

When asked if this means that personnel reshuffles are coming, the prime minister answered: “Reshuffles are taking place, they are not announced.”

“I expect that a clear decision will be made at the latest during the rotation of the government”

President Klaus Iohannis reacted on Thursday, more than a month after the decision of the University of Babes-Bolaya regarding plagiarism in the case of Interior Minister Lucian Bode, and in response to a question, he said that it was “obvious” that there were problems and that they expected ” Clear a decision will be made” at the government round table no later than May.

• “As far as I understand from the public space, this is not exactly what the Commission said, but it is true that there are problems there.
• In my opinion, these issues should be taken very seriously, and I believe that the PNL and Mr. Bode will personally analyze these issues and the political impact.
• I personally, to be honest, expect that a clear decision will be made on this matter no later than during the circular system or rotation of the government,” said Iohannis.

This is how he responded when asked about Bode’s accusations of plagiarism and about statements he made in July 2021 when he said “plagiarism is intellectual theft and it is unacceptable that, despite incontrovertible evidence, the accused do not take a step back “.