State Partnership Program
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The Maryland National Guard’s State Partnership Program (SPP) maintains partnerships with two countries in Europe—Estonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The SPP was launched in Europe as part of the initial outreach by the United States toward new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The SPP brings together U.S. states and territories with partner nations through a range of military and civil-military activities under the Maryland Military Department auspices.
The partnership program emphasizes civil and military cooperation with civil control of a professional military. Maryland has a key role in this international initiative to foster democracy, encourage market economies and promote regional cooperation and stability. Maryland’s partnership with Estonia officially started in 1993 and is currently used as the primary example for developing future partnerships within the program. The partnership with Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) started in 2003 continues to flourish and expand.
