He copied, but he's not a plagiarist

„The committee's report is over 1,000 pages long, but it has released a three-page summary today. It states that 17 pages of Mr Schmitt's thesis were lifted wholesale from a paper written by Klaus Heineman, a German sports sociologist. A further 180 pages were partly copied from Mr Georgiev's work. The dissertation, the committee says, also lacks proper citations and a bibliography. 

In most countries Mr Schmitt would now be writing his resignation letter (or at least finding one to copy). A year ago Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the highly regarded German defence minister, resigned in disgrace after having been stripped of his PhD for plagiarism.

But it does not work like that in Hungary. The committee found that even though Mr Schmitt had copied large chunks of other people’s work and passed it off as his own, he should not be blamed. The problem lay rather with his supervisors, who did not do their jobs properly. Mr Schmitt's thesis met the formal requirements of the time. He will keep his degree.

The committee’s ruling was greeted by widespread derision in Hungary. Semmelweis University, a once-respected international institution, has shown the courage of a mouse, say critics, and will see its reputation tarnished for the sake of preserving Mr Schmitt’s image.”