Our country bas previously hosted once more this Congress, 17 years ago, when the 7th edition was held at Constanța-Mangalia-Neptun/Olimp. Since then, other editions of this congress have been organized by colleagues from Bulgaria (2000), Republic of Moldova (2004), Greece (2005) and Turkey (201 O). In 1996, when the 7th edition of the Congress was held, the status of this research direction - Thracology - was most probably different than today both in Romania and in the other countries. At that time, our research field benefited from the existence of an independent institution (The Romanian Institute ofThracology, director prof. Dr. Petre Roman), with its ownjuridical status and budget. Today, the Centre ofThracology activates hannonically as part ofthe "Vasile Parvan" Institute of Archaeology of the Romanian Academy.