Maryland - Bosnia and Herzegovina Exchange Council

06/04/2026

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04/24/2026

April 16 and 17, 2026, the Maryland-Bosnia and Herzegovina Exchange Council (MBHEC) welcomed a delegation of more than 35 participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, representing academia, medical institutions, and the private and public sectors from Mostar, Tuzla, Banja Luka, Doboj, and Sarajevo.

Led by Minister Zukan Helez, Minister of Defense and Vice-Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the delegation participated in “Bosnia and Herzegovina Days in Maryland,” a two-day platform designed to strengthen ties between the State of Maryland and Bosnia and Herzegovina in a sustained, substantive, and practical manner.

Our event also welcomed Nermin Nikšić, Prime Minister of the Federation of BiH, Vedran Lakic, Nerin Dizdar, Sarajevo Mayor Samir Avdic.

Opened by Congressman Steny H. Hoyer on Capitol Hill, our event focused on four target areas:

• Education: Dalibor Kesic and Srđan Dušanić from Univerzitet u Banjoj Luci and Jasmin Ahic from University of Sarajevo met with Georgetown University, Vice Dean Raj M. Desai at the Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service, Dr. Catherine Panter-Brick at Yale University, and Mary Kate Schneider at Loyola University Maryland and the Maryland International Education Consortium to discuss avenues for research and academic exchanges.

• Healthcare: Clinical leaders from Mostar, Tuzla, and Sarajevo met with Dr. Tarabar Asim (Yale School of Medicine), Dr. Nedim Jaganjac, and Dr. Asim Haracic to map practical partnerships domestically and abroad.

• Trade & investment: BiH's private sector delegation met with Mary Kane, President and CEO at Maryland Chamber of Commerce, and with Ciena, to look at where BiH talent can plug into American firms and vice versa.

• City Partnerships: Mayor Samir Avdic met with Annapolis Mayor Jared Littmann to push their sister city relationship from symbolic to operational. Mayor Avdic and Kristina Bevanda representing the City of Mostar, also met with Sister Cities International.

• The milestone: a historic plenary in Annapolis with Maryland Secretary of State Susan Lee , Maj. Gen. Janeen L. Birckhead (Maryland National Guard), Secretary Harry Coker Maryland, Jr., and Secretary Serena McIlwain — the first time Maryland has hosted a BiH delegation of this scale and scope.

Huge thanks to our institutional partners at the State of Maryland, Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the U.S., Office of the Military Attache, Institute for Development Impact - I4DI, and Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs

Our endless gratitude also goes to our sponsors Artco Group, Vanjskotrgovinska - Spoljnotrgovinska komora BiH, Igman dd Konjic, BNT, Ginex, Derubis Caravans, and Unis Group for making this event viable.

👉 Read the full story here:

https://mdbih-council.org/bosnia-and-herzegovina-days-in-maryland-delegation-visit-strengthens-u-s-bih-partnership/

On April 16 and 17, 2026, the Maryland-Bosnia and Herzegovina Exchange Council (MBHEC) welcomed a delegation of more than 35 participants from Bosnia and

03/14/2026

Bosnia and Herzegovina Days in Maryland brings together relevant leaders and institutions from both sides around shared priorities and long-term interests.

03/04/2026

Washington, D.C., March 3, 2026 – For the second consecutive year, the State of Maryland has officially declared March 1 as Bosnian-American Day in Maryland.

03/02/2026

The State of Maryland Proclamation, issued by Governor Wes Moore, builds upon last year’s historic first recognition and further establishes March 1st as a

03/02/2026

The State of Maryland Proclamation, issued by Governor Wes Moore, honors the historic significance of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s declaration of independence on

02/28/2026

02/23/2026

Last week, the Maryland Bosnia and Herzegovina Exchange Council held its inaugural gala. We presented Senator Ben Cardin with a facsimile edition of the

02/23/2026

At the inaugural Maryland - Bosnia and Herzegovina Exchange Council gala, our board member Emir Nurkic Kacapor presented Senator Ben Cardin with a facsimile edition of the Sarajevo Haggadah, a faithful reproduction of the original manuscript in its entirety. The hashtag
is an illuminated Jewish codex created around 1350 in the Kingdom of Aragon, likely in Barcelona, with 142 parchment leaves and 69 miniatures that tell the story of Creation, the Exodus, and the journey to freedom. At some point, through paths we still cannot fully trace, this book made its way to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

When German forces occupied hashtag
in 1941 and demanded that the codex be handed over, curator Derviš Korkut and museum director Jozo Petrović refused. A book made for a Jewish family’s Passover table was protected by a Muslim curator and a Catholic museum director, hidden first in a Sarajevo mosque and then in a village high in the Bosnian mountains. Nearly seven centuries of exile, inquisition, empire, and war, and it endures because, at every turning point, someone chose to safeguard what belonged to someone else’s tradition.

Senator Cardin has spent more than half a century standing up for human rights, religious freedom, and the conviction that diversity is a source of strength. Placing this facsimile in his hands, every page and illumination reproduced as it appears in the original, was our way of saying that the stories of Bosnia and Herzegovina and of the United States belong in the same chapter.

In both places, Jews, Christians, and Muslims have shown that neighbors can become partners, and partners can become family. Today our partnership is about young people who will grow up knowing that, on the other side of the ocean, there is a community that sees them and is willing to stand with them.
If a fragile manuscript can survive seven centuries because people of different faiths chose to protect it together, then surely we can protect each other’s dignity today. That is what we celebrated at this gala, and what we owe to the generations that will come after us.

02/17/2026

And that’s a wrap! 🇺🇸🤝🇧🇦

Last Thursday in Annapolis, the Maryland–Bosnia and Herzegovina Exchange Council (MBHEC) marked two years since our founding and celebrated 22 years of partnership between the State of Maryland and Bosnia and Herzegovina through the Maryland National Guard’s State Partnership Program, while also opening a new chapter in civilian cooperation.

We were honored to welcome H.E. Željko Komšić, Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Željko Komšić and to recognize Congressman Steny H. Hoyer and Senator Benjamin L. Cardin with Lifetime Achievement Awards for their decades of steadfast support and friendship toward Bosnia and Herzegovina and the broader U.S.-BiH partnership. We were also grateful to hear from Deputy Secretary of State Michael Lore, whose remarks underscored the importance of sustained civic engagement and strong state-level leadership in advancing this partnership.

The remarks from our speakers and awardees, together with the spirit in the room, reinforced a shared message: lasting partnerships are built through trust, shared values, and sustained engagement across institutions, communities, and people.

During the program, MBHEC's Board Members Emir Nurkic Kacapor and Adnan Hadrovic Adnan Dado Hadrovic introduced our Lifetime Achievement Award honorees, while Azra K. Nurkic Azra Kacapor Nurkic reflected on MBHEC’s road ahead and key priority areas for the coming period, underscoring the importance of sustained civic engagement and people-to-people ties that turn shared values into shared work.

And a special thank you to our gala host and moderator, Una Bejtovic, Una Bejtović for guiding the evening with warmth and professionalism.

We’re also grateful to the talented performers who brought so much meaning to the program, including Uma Čizmić, Ivan Medić, Alden Čizmić, and Dr. Asim Haračić. Asim Haracic

A huge thank you to Andrea Pozderac Andrea Pozderac for leading the planning, coordination, and implementation of the gala and bringing the evening together with such care, poise, and thoughtfulness.

Finally, to everyone who joined us, supported us, and helped make the evening possible, thank you from all of us at MBHEC. More to come soon, so stay tuned!

Read more about the event here: https://mdbih-council.org/mbhec-gala-opens-a-new-chapter-in-civic-partnership-between-the-united-states-and-bosnia-and-herzegovina/

• See all event photos here: https://mdbih-council.org/events/inaugural-international-gala/