PM proposes Virgil Popescu, Minister of Energy, as interim Minister of Research

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca took note of the resignation of Florin Roman from the Government and sent a proposal to President Klaus Iohannis to appoint Minister of Energy Virgil Popescu as interim Minister of Research, Innovation and Digitalization, said the government's spokesman, Dan Carbunaru, agerpres reports.

Florin Roman resigned as Minister of Research after several charges of plagiarism were brought against him.

The central press has published information according to which Florin Roman allegedly attended short-term higher education courses within a university college in Alba-Iulia and took the graduation exam for these courses at Cluj-Napoca Babes-Bolyai University (UBB). Thus Roman obtained a graduation diploma, not a licence degree from UBB, as his CV allegedly read.

Florin Roman said on Wednesday that he was leaving with his head held high.

"I have filed my resignation from the minister office today, thanking the prime minister and the government team. When white becomes black, when any word you say is twisted, when you assume material errors, nevertheless lynching attitudes are displayed from the first day of term, it is too much. I don't want this scandal to affect the Executive's activity," Florin Roman wrote on his Facebook page.