Twelve weeks before the general election, Baerbock's credibility is being questioned again.
The chancellor candidate is confronted with allegations of plagiarism in her book.
Greens react horrified.
Munich - This plagiarism affair is not about the doctorate this time - for Annalena Baerbock * but in the worst case about the chancellorship.
The Austrian media scientist Stefan Weber accuses the Greens * candidate for chancellor, in her new book “Jetzt.
How we renew our country ”, copied from the Internet in some places - without naming the sources.
Ten days ago Annalena Baerbock presented her first book * - in the 240 pages she combines the political goals of the Greens with personal anecdotes.
The book with her face on the cover was supposed to give her a boost in the election campaign - but now she confronts Weber on his blog with passages of text that she has copied word for word from other authors.
Baerbock's book: media scholar sees "several copyright violations"
Baerbock's book is not a scientific work - so there are no strict citation rules such as for dissertations.
“Completely clear,” admits Stefan Weber.
However, text plagiarism is "ethically incorrect and has already been rightly criticized in non-fiction books." He speaks of "several copyright violations".
Weber has been targeting Baerbock for weeks.
In May he dealt with inaccurate and inaccurate details from her résumé.
The uncleanliness in her vita made headlines - and Baerbock had publicly admitted her guilt.
Now the strategy is different.
The Greens are counter-attacking.
"We like to lead tough election campaigns," tweeted parliamentary group leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt.
"But stop this filth."
Baerbock's book: Bütikofer speaks of "right-wing propaganda war" when it comes to allegations
A spokesman for the Greens spoke of character assassination: “We firmly reject the charge of copyright infringement.” The written passages are “generally accessible facts or known Green positions”.
Green European politician Reinhard Bütikofer reacted particularly violently and called the allegations against Baerbock a “right-wing propaganda war”.
The party has also turned on the media lawyer Christian Schertz.
He could "not recognize a copyright infringement in the beginning".
It was "an attempt to run a campaign to the detriment of Ms. Baerbock".
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Once again she has to spend a lot of energy in her defense: Annalena Baerbock is exposed to allegations of plagiarism.
© Soeren Stache / dpa
Baerbock's book: Weber wants to look for more plagiarism posts - CSU uses template
Stefan Weber denies that.
He worked out of "scientific interest".
"All attempts by the Greens to accuse me of malicious action or character assassination are therefore complete nonsense." There is also no client - Weber checked the book with software on his own account.
He announced that he would manually search for further plagiarism sites in the coming weeks.
For the opposing parties, Weber's allegations are just right.
CSU General Secretary Markus Blume tweeted: "Deliberately deceived, worked sloppily and piled up again with your own performance - that seems to have a system at Baerbock and once again shakes your credibility."
Baerbock's book: Support for Chancellor candidate from SPD and FDP
Other politicians from the competition, however, protect Baerbock. The allegations against Baerbock are "level and indecent," says the SPD * politician Ralf Stegner. And Marco Buschmann from the FDP * says: “Come on guys! Cool off! Everyone knows that books by top candidates before the election tend to have the literary quality of an advertising brochure. ”Klaus-Dieter Altmeppen, head of the Center for Media Ethics, speaks of a“ lousy campaign ”. "If there are allegations of plagiarism, you should contact those affected directly - instead of dragging them into the public eye."
Baerbock is not the first politician to be confronted with allegations of plagiarism.
Franziska Giffey (SPD) only recently resigned as family minister because of allegations of fraud in her doctoral thesis.
Andreas Scheuer (CSU) also had plagiarism proceedings on his neck - he was acquitted, but he no longer has his doctorate.
Former Defense Minister Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg has resigned because of foreign passages in his dissertation.
Baerbock will not have to face any proceedings - but the voter will.
(Kathrin Braun) * merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
List of rubric lists: © Soeren Stache / dpa