Abstract
On 5 July 2022, the Czech Republic and the Republic of Albania will mark the centenary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. This anniversary is a reason to ask how these relations were born, to examine how they have evolved, and to reflect on and discuss where the ties between these two small nations and countries are heading and how they are perceived from different angles.
These issues were raised and discussed not only from the perspective of diplomacy, but also culture, trade, economics and especially the direct contacts between Albanians and Czechs that go beyond the time frame of a century. Czech-Albanian relations were the subject of the first ever academic conference entitled Czech (Slovak)-Albanian Relations: 100 Years of Existence, which took place on 26 November 2020 and was organised by the Institute of International Relations in cooperation with the Department of South Slavic and Balkan Studies. Both departments are part of Charles University. Czech and Albanian historians, scholars, ambassadors and former ambassadors attended this one-day conference, which was held online due to the global pandemic of covid-19. The papers presented at the conference form the basis of this collective monograph entitled: One Hundred Years of Czech (Slovene)-Albanian Relations. Mutual Sympathy and Growing Interaction.