Czech Labor and Social Affairs Minister Petr Krcal announced his resignation on Tuesday only three weeks after the new government's appointment.

His resignation came a day after reports alleged that he had plagiarised a major part of his university thesis. Czech Labor Ministry's senior official Jana Malacova has been proposed as Krcal's successor.

On Monday, Czech local media reported that the thesis Krcal defended at the Bata University in Zlin, south Moravia, in May 2007 contained a number of pages evidently copying older texts by other authors.

Krcal said on Tuesday that he spent a lot of time writing his thesis, but he admit "there may be mistakes in the content."

Krcal said at the press conference that he would not consider his fault as crucial as to threaten his position as minister, but he does not want his case to be a burden for his party CSSD and the new government or to endanger his family and health.

He also said he went through a severe oncological disease in connection with stress in the past.

Last week, Tatana Mala resigned as justice minister over the same allegations as Krcal.

Czech President Milos Zeman's spokesman Jiri Ovcacek said on Tuesday that Zeman will discuss the situation with Prime Minister Andrej Babis after a regular meeting of his team of advisers at the presidential chateau in Lany near Prague on Saturday.

The 37-year-old Malacova worked as the head of the EU institutional communication department at the Government Office in 2014-2015. Before that, she represented the Czech Senate Office in the European Parliament for two years.