COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — An academic probe said Thursday that Norway's Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol plagiarized parts of her masters' degree thesis three years ago, the second such case this year in the Norwegian government and the latest allegation of unethical behavior to rock the center-left government.
The investigation by Nord University in Bodoe, northern Norway, found Kjerkol's 2021 thesis contained “far more serious errors than sloppiness," Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported. The broadcaster said the probe’s conclusion was to deprive Kjerkol of her master’s degree in health management.
The 48-year-old Kjerkol did not comment Thursday. But she has previously rejected the allegations, saying she and a co-author did not copy to parts of another student’s thesis from 2015.
Kjerkol has been in office since October 2021 when Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre presented a coalition government of his own Labor party and the junior Center Party.
The conclusion of Thursday’s probe immediately prompted the opposition to urge Gahr Støre to say whether he has trust in Kjerkol.
Jan Tore Sanner, a senior member of Norway’s main opposition party, Hoeyre, told Norwegian news agency NTB, that the prime minister must address “the matter of confidence” in Kjerkol.” Sylvi Listhaug, the leader of the anti-immigrant Progress Party, also called on Gahr Støre to “assess whether he has confidence in her.”
Kjerkol is the second government member to be entangled in academic plagiarism allegations this year. In January, Sandra Borch stepped down as minister for research and higher education after a student discovered that parts of Borch’s master’s thesis, including spelling mistakes, were copied without attribution from a different author.
Gahr Støre’s coalition has seen the departure of several ministers in recent months over other wrongdoings. In September, it was revealed that the husband of then Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt had been trading in stocks for years behind her back and that could potentially enrich her.
The ruling social democratic Labor party was defeated in September in local elections by the Hoeyre for the first time since 1924. The party, which for decades was Norway’s largest party in local elections, came in second in the Sept. 11 elections for local councils in Norway’s 356 municipalities and 11 counties.
LONDON (AP) — Britain will expel Russia’s defense attaché over spying allegations as part of several measures the government announced Wednesday to target Moscow’s intelligence gathering operations in the U.K.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said the measures were aimed at what he called the “reckless and dangerous activities of the Russian government across Europe."
The latest round of measures will boot the attaché, Maxim Elovik, a Russian colonel who the government termed an “undeclared military intelligence officer.” It will also rescind the diplomatic status of several Russian-owned properties because they are believed to have been used for intelligence purposes, and impose new restrictions on Russian diplomatic visas and visits.
“In the coming days we should expect accusations of Russophobia, conspiracy theories and hysteria from the Russian government,” Cleverly said in Parliament. “This is not new and the British people and the British government will not fall for it, and will not be taken for fools by Putin’s bots, trolls and lackeys.”
Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry, told The Associated Press that “Russia will respond in kind.”
The U.K. has had an uneasy relationship with Russia for years, accusing its agents of targeted killings and espionage, including cyberattacks aimed at British parliamentarians and leaking and amplifying sensitive information to serve Russian interests. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Britain has also sanctioned hundreds of wealthy Russians and moved to clamp down on money laundering through London’s property and financial markets.
The government said Wednesday's actions followed criminal cases in London alleging espionage and sabotage by people acting on behalf of Russia.
It also cited allegations that the Russian government planned to sabotage military aid for Ukraine in Germany and Poland and carried out spying in Bulgaria and Italy, along with cyber and disinformation activities, air space violations and jamming GPS signals to hamper civilian air traffic.
“Since the illegal invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s attempts to undermine UK and European security have become increasingly brazen,” Foreign Secretary David Cameron said. “These measures are an unequivocal message to the Russian state — their actions will not go unanswered.”
Elovik has been based in Britain since at least 2020. Russian state news agency Tass said he was summoned to the U.K.’s Defense Ministry the day Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
He has subsequently been pictured laying flowers to Soviet soldiers who died during the Second World War in both London and Manchester.
In this photo released by Russian Embassy in London/Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Colonel Maxim Elovik, Russia's military attaché to the United Kingdom and Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Andrey Kelin, right, attend a laying wreaths ceremony marking the 79th anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe, at the Soviet war memorial in London, Britain, on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Britain says it is expelling the attaché after accusing him of being a spy. The move announced Wednesday was one of several measures taken by the U.K. against Moscow over what it said were malicious activities. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)
