20 years since 9/11
The nearly 3,000 victims of the terrorist attacks of 2001, including Romanians, were commemorated on September 11
Corina Cristea, 13.09.2021, 13:50
With colours flown at half-mast, the US commemorated on September 11 the nearly 3,000 people killed 20 years ago in the most severe attack on American territory. 19 Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked the civil aircraft that hit into New Yorks World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, while one other aircraft, believed to be heading for the White House or the Congress building, crashed after the passengers tried to take control.
In response, Washington started the so-called global war on terrorism, the first large-scale campaign being the one in Afghanistan, which ended last month. Political leaders from many countries sent solidarity and compassion messages, reiterating their determination to safeguard freedom and fight terrorist threats.
President Klaus Iohannis sent a letter to his US counterpart Joe Biden, emphasising that in the wake of the terror attacks, the common suffering turned into solidarity and a shared goal, in the US and around the world, in allied and partner countries, Romania included. President Iohannis reiterated that Romania stands by the American people in the fight against terrorism and in strengthening shared values like democracy, human rights, freedom of speech and the rule of law.
The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu also sent a message to the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, highlighting Bucharests firm and long-standing commitment to taking part, alongside the international community and the US, a strategic partner for Romania, in the joint efforts to fight terrorism and extremism.
Also in Bucharest, the Government of Romania expressed its solidarity with the American nation, while in Washington, the Romanian Embassy paid tribute to the victims of the tragedy and sent a message to the survivors and to those who put their own lives on the line in the rescue operations 2 decades ago. “We remember and we honour the strength and resilience of the American people in the face of loss and suffering, the Ambassador of Romania Andrei Muraru and other Embassy staff said in a video address. “It was more than an attack against the US. It was an attack against the free world, against the values and ideals that we all share—freedom, compassion, dignity, humanity. It was an attack against civilisation, the message also says.
“September 11, 2001. A day that was brutally imprinted on our memory and history. A day beyond forgetting. The September 11 attack was not only an attack on the US, but an attack on all of us, the Romanian Mircea Geoană, NATO deputy secretary general, said in turn in a Facebook post. (tr. A.M. Popescu)
