Blanar: 9/11 Anniversary Honours Victims, Recalls Courage and Solidarity

Bratislava, 11 September (TASR) - The 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that caused the collapse of the World Trade Center towers in New York serves not only as a time to remember the victims, but also as a reminder of the courage shown by the rescuers and all those who provided assistance and saved human lives in those fateful moments, Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) has stated on social media in connection with Friday's anniversary of the most tragic terrorist attack in the history of the USA. "It is solidarity, humanity and support from around the world that were and must always remain the values that unite us across nations, religions and political or ideological differences," stated Blanar. He added that Slovakia strongly condemns any form of terrorism and is actively involved in international efforts within the United Nations (UN), the European Union and NATO to combat terrorism, thereby contributing to both global security and its own. "At the same time, Slovakia ratified the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism in 2006 and became the first state in the world to adopt all 13 universal UN conventions aimed at combating terrorism," added Blanar. On 11 September 2001, 19 members of the al-Qaeda terrorist network hijacked four commercial aircraft and flew two of them into the World Trade Center towers in New York, which subsequently collapsed. Another plane struck the Pentagon, while the fourth crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew members attempted to regain control of the aircraft. The attacks and the collapse of the Twin Towers directly killed almost 3,000 people from around 90 countries around the world and have resulted in more than 6,000 additional deaths to date. jrg/df