Baerbock, who earlier appeared to be in position to succeed Angela Merkel as the German leader, has suffered several setbacks and now trails the conservative party in opinion polls ahead of a general election in September. Most recently, she was accused by Stefan Weber, an Austrian who tracks plagiarism, of having copied several passages in her book “Jetzt” (Now). Weber highlighted half a dozen parts he says were copied from institutional websites or from the influential centre-left German weekly Der Spiegel. (article continues below) See also on The Local:“Many ideas from other people were integrated” in the book, Baerbock told Brigitte, a top German magazine for women, in comments published on its website on Thursday. Merkel herself is not seeking another term and is to step down after 16 years as head of Europe’s leading economic power.

Source: The Local July 02, 2021 06:56 UTC