Croatia Minister's Fate Uncertain Ahead of MPs' Vote

The likely result of an upcoming non-confidence vote on Croatia's Science and Education Minister Pavo Barisic is still unclear as both governing and opposition parties voice conflicting views.

A heated debate on Thursday served as an introduction to the vote - initiated by the opposition - for the minister in the centre-right government, which was voted into office in parliament in October.

The non-confidence motion was initiated in January after the science and higher education ethics committee - the highest state body monitoring ethical values in science - said Barisic plagiarised parts of his scientific article, "Does Globalization Threaten Democracy," written in English in the Croatian scientific journal Synthesis philosophica, in 2008.

Davor Bernardic, head of the opposition centre-left Social Democratic Party, SDP, opened Tuesday's discussion by saying that the leading "state institution … has ruled that the minister cheated".

Bernardic appealed to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who attended the debate to show support for the minister, to remove him. Plenkovic has supported Barisic a number of times in public.

Bernardic told Plenkovic that by removing the minister, he would show "that such things won't be tolerated" in Croatia. "I urge you, Prime Minister, to be a reformer, not a forger," Bernardic concluded.

Ivan Vrdoljak, head of the opposition centre-left Croatian People's Party, HNS, agreed that "nobody has the right to ignore institutions and accept 'alternative facts' instead of the truth.

"If plagiarism by the first man of the education system is unsanctioned, by what authority will teachers punish cheating [in exams]?" he asked.

A few MPs from the senior government party, the Croatian...