The Iraqi community in Prague celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations between Iraq and the Czech Republic. A number of Iraqi and Czech officials attended the event by and featured performances by Iraqi and Czech folk artists. Iraqi ambassador to Prague Dhia Al Dabbas stressed Iraq’s interest in benefiting from the Czech Republic's experience. For his part, Czech foreign ministry deputy Cyril Bumbalek stressed on the strong relations between Baghdad and the Czech Republic. "Relations between the Czech Republic and Iraq have continued to be strong and multi-faceted, in spite of dramatic reversals and difficult situations, since 1958 when the first Czechoslovak ambassador was appointed to Baghdad," he said.