Abstract
Except for those attuned to contemporary diplomatic relations between the Czech Republic and the Republic of Albania, few might be aware that the Czech-Albanian relations - with their diplomatic ties established on 5 July 1922 - are to reach a hundred years. To mark this approaching centenary, this first international academic conference on the Czech(Slovak)-Albanian relations - organized by the Department of Russian and East European Studies (IMS, Faculty of Social Sciences) and the Department of South Slavic and Balkan Studies (Faculty of Philosophy) of Charles University - brings together ambassadors, historians and scholars from both the Czech Republic and Albania to deliver accounts on historical and contemporary cultural, economic, diplomatic and people to people interactions between the two nations.
The conference sheds light on as to why and how these two geographically non-contiguous European countries have gotten closer, at times cooled off, and rebounded with more dynamic and amicable interactions over these one hundred years.