Dumb Or Dumber?

There are allegations that Osman Mehmedagic, the Director General of the Bosnian Intelligence Security Agency (OSA), has an invalid university degree. On 15 Aug, the OSA went to the extraordinary lengths of issuing a press release denying the allegations. The release stated: “Director Mehmedagic’s diploma was duly earned and issued. This has been confirmed in a number of earlier checks that he undergone throughout his career.”

The allegations appear to have begun in neighbouring Serbia as part of an ongoing war of nerves between the two countries. The University of Business Studies in Serbia that issued the diploma had announced that it was going to declare the document “null and void” because it had discovered that Mehmedagic’s first degree had been incorrectly awarded (a degree in law from the University of Sarajevo). It is possible that the allegations were started (or perhaps just spread), by Milorad Dodik, leader of the minority Bosnia Serbs. He has a considerable record of disputes with the OSA.

This type of petty points scoring is fairly typical of diplomatic relations in the region. The allegations are almost impossible to prove and even if they were proved, they are unlikely to have much effect.

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