BILATERAL RELATIONS BETWEEN ALBANIA AND CZECH REPUBLIC

The Czech Republic, also known by its short-form name Czechia, is a country situated in Central Europe, that covers an area of 78,866 km2 and has a population of 10.6 million inhabitants. The Czech Republic is a landlocked country, bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast and Slovakia to the east. The official language is Czech.

The Czech Republic is a semi-presidential representative democracy. The Parliament is bicameral, with the Chamber of Deputies (200 members, elected for a four-year term) and the Senate (81 members, elected for a six-year term). The president is a formal head of state with limited and specific powers, who appoints the prime minister. Since 2013 the presidential election is direct. The Prime Minister is the head of government.

OVERVIEW

The Czech Republic has provided and continues to provide a significant contribution to the integration process of Albania into the European Union. The voice of Czech Republic, as part of the Visegrad Group (V4), has been vocal regarding the advancement of Albania in its EU path. Our two countries have expressed the political will to further extend their traditional relations by promoting wider use of unexplored space so far in the field of economic and trade cooperation, especially in the fields of energy, transport, railways and tourism, culture, education and science.

Recent visits include the visit in Tirana of the Deputy President of the Senate of the Czech Republic, Mr. Jan Horník, accompanied by a delegation of the Committee on Public Administration, Regional Development and Environment, on 18-24 November 2021; the joint visit in Tirana of the Ministres of Foreign Affaris of the Czech Republic, Mr. Kulhánek, of Austria, Mr. Schallenberg and Slovenia, Mr. Logar, as part of a tour that included also a visit to Skopje; the visit in Prague of the Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania, Mr. Gent Cakaj, on 10 September 2020, in the framework of his participation in the OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum, where he held a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Mr. Tomáš Petříček; and the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Mr. Tomas Petříček, on 14 March 2019, in Tirana.

BILATERAL RELATIONS

The diplomatic relations between Albania and Czechoslovakia were established on 05 July 1922, and they were interrupted during the World War II, to be restored on 10 December 1945.

Following the dissolution of the Czechoslovak Federal Republic, in December 1992, the Czech Republic sought its recognition and the establishment of diplomatic relations with Albania. On 1 January 1993, Albania recognized the Czech Republic and on 4 January 1993 declared the establishment of diplomatic relations.

The two countries note with satisfaction that the past years the bilateral relations have gained a new momentum with the political exchanges at the highest level. The official visit of the Albania’s Prime Minister, Mr. Edi Rama, in Prague, in October 2015, paved the way for the new broader opportunities of cooperation between the two countries. Many other visits on ministerial level have followed. Good cooperation has also been noted at the parliamentary level. Exchanges have been frequent on both sides, both at the level of speakers of parliaments and parliamentary committees, creating the conditions for further promotion of cooperation.