Emilia Şercan, a Romanian journalist specializing in rooting out plagiarized theses written by major local political figures, is one of the 18 nominees for PRIX EUROPA European Journalist of the Year 2024. She is the only journalist selected from Romania.

The list of nominees also includes journalists from Hungary, Sweden, Ukraine, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Greece.

"I have been nominated for PRIX EUROPA European Journalist of the Year 2024, and I still can't believe it," Şercan wrote on social media.

"The nomination, along with 17 other journalists from Sweden, Denmark, Ukraine, Hungary, Norway, Germany, the UK, and Greece, is worth as much as the award itself," she added.

The members of the PRIX EUROPA Steering Committee will decide who will be honored as European Journalist for the year 2024. The winner will be announced during the Awards Ceremony on October 11.

The award was founded in 1987 by the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, and the European Cultural Foundation. In 2023, the prize was given to all 418 journalists working for the Ukrainian Public Service Broadcaster UA:PBC.

In recent years, Emilia Şercan has signed several investigations about the plagiarized doctoral theses of top names in the public administration, such as former prime minister Nicolae Ciucă and former ministers Lucian Bode and Sorin Cîmpeanu.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)