BiH Presidency member Željko Komšić spent the last few days in Chicago, where he met with representatives of the BiH community of this city, businesspeople from the BiH community and members of the BiH Club from Chicago.
During his three-day stay in Chicago, where around 35,000-50,000 BiH citizens live, Komšic visited the Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel, where he spoke with the city councilor Harry Osterman, learns Fena from organizations and societies that gather BiH citizens that live in Chicago.
During this meeting it was said that wider business cooperation is needed, especially between Sarajevo and Chicago. It was proposed to establish direct ties between individual educational institutions (high school and university level).
Jadranka Negodić, the Ambassador of BiH to Washington DC, General Council of BiH in Chicago Brane Pećanac, representatives of the BiH-American Community and the BiH Club from Chicago attended the meeting.
During a dinner with businesspeople from the BiH Community and members of the BiH Club in Chicago, they primarily spoke about the economic, social and political situation in BiH and relations between representatives of the government towards BiH diaspora.
They spoke about BiH immigrant organizations, their work and cooperation, the importance of community, especially when it comes to the issue of appearing in the American public. They also stressed the need for greater engagement and cooperation with the homeland and its institutions that deal with the diaspora.
As a gesture of gratitude, the President of the BiH Club from Chicago Nihad Mehanović handed a plaque to Željko Komšić, who became an honorary member of this club.
The plaques and recognition for his work or the work of the organizations to which they belong was received by Chris Matheu, a journalist, publicist and member of the international expert team for research, Ted Harding, Professor at Columbia University (he filmed a successful and award-winning documentary film on BiH), Haris Alibašić, President of the Bosniak Congress of North America and Ibrahim Vajzović, Professor at St. Louis and prominent BiH activist.
Komšić attended the dinner to mark BiH Independence Day. There were American guests, representatives of the BiH Consulate in Chicago and guests from BiH society and organizations from Chicago, St. Louis, Grand Rapids, and Milwaukee, which totaled 350 guests.
