The rectors of public universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina requested the competent authorities on Tuesday to raise as soon as possible the issue of recognising BiH university diplomas at Croatian and Slovenian universities.

At a conference in Banja Luka, the rectors discussed the problems which have arisen after Croatia's Agency for Science and Higher Education decided that it would recognise only diplomas from the University of Mostar.

That means that someone with a diploma from any other BiH university must obtain the Agency's opinion when applying for a job or continuing their studies in Croatia. An employer in Croatia may or may not accept the opinion, but if the person applies for a government job, the opinion represents an aggravating circumstance if it is a qualified opinion.

That is a result of Croatia's new law on the recognition of foreign qualifications, which went into force last year.

BiH university diplomas are not automatically recognised in Slovenia either as Slovenian authorities require clear information on the statute of higher education institutions in BiH and their syllabi.

“We asked the education authorities in BiH to cooperate with the Croatian and Slovenian authorities and to act politically so that the problems of persons with BiH diplomas can be solved,” said Radoslav Gajanin, rector of the University of Banja Luka and head of the BiH Rectors’ Conference.

He said many Croatian citizens study in BiH, including medicine, dentistry, and architecture in Banja Luka.

According to Damir Ljubic, head of the BiH Centre for Information and Recognition of Higher Education Documents, the problem lies in the quality of the BiH education system.

If the necessary standards had been set, fake university diplomas could not have been issued in such large numbers in BiH, he said.

Gajanin concurred, saying the “flood of diplomas” quickly acquired at private universities is a serious problem. “Croatia probably wants to protect its (labour) market from such diplomas,” he added.