Acting President Albulena Haxhiu, together with Acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti, paid tribute at the “Kosova Kujton” memorial, dedicated to the victims of September 11 in the USA.
In her remarks, Acting President Haxhiu said that twenty-five years ago, September 11 began as a completely ordinary morning.
“This is also how the US Commission of Inquiry Report on September 11 begins. Tuesday, September 11, 2001, dawned with mild weather and clear skies in the eastern United States. Millions of people were getting ready for work. Some headed toward the Twin Towers in New York, others toward the Pentagon. People were lining up to visit the White House. President George W. Bush had gone for an early morning run. At 8:46, the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. In Kosovo, it was 2:46 p.m. Just two minutes later, the first television broadcasts began showing images of the North Tower in flames. While the broadcast continued live, at 9:03 New York time, the second plane hit the South Tower,” said Acting President Haxhiu.
According to her, from New York to Prishtina, people remained glued to their screens, watching the same tragedy unfold as it was happening.
She further said that that American morning, which had begun with clear skies and people heading to work, in a matter of minutes became the morning that divided time into before and after September 11.
“In those hours of terror and chaos, the willingness of people to help one another was also seen, without having time to think long about the danger, themselves or the consequences. It was seen in the firefighters entering buildings while others were trying to get out, in the police officers and rescue teams, in the passengers who decided to act, and in ordinary people helping one another,” emphasized Acting President Haxhiu.
According to Acting President Haxhiu, the September 11 attacks were an attack on the United States of America, but the pain nevertheless immediately crossed its borders, adding that in cities around the world people gathered in silence, lit candles and sent messages of condolence.
“In Prishtina and in other cities across Kosovo, people took to the streets to express solidarity with the American people. They lit candles, gathered at rallies and marches, and came forward to donate blood. The streets were filled with citizens carrying American flags and banners reading “America, we stand with you”, as a sign of solidarity with the American people on that day of mourning. Kosovo in 2001 was still recovering from the war. Just two years earlier, the United States had stood by us during one of the most difficult periods in our history. Our stories are different and each carries its own pain, but from our own recent experience, we knew the weight of a friend’s presence in the most difficult days,” Acting President Haxhiu said.
She said that when America was attacked on September 11, the citizens of Kosovo did not experience it as the tragedy of another country, a distant country.
“The pain of that day entered our homes, our conversations and was experienced with a special sense of closeness, like the pain of losing a great friend. The attack itself was understood as an attack on freedom, democracy and human dignity, values that had also been at the foundation of American support for Kosovo. Some citizens of Kosovo went as far as the American Office in Prishtina and volunteered to fight alongside American soldiers. It was an extraordinary and spontaneous response, showing how deeply Kosovo
felt America’s pain,” Acting President Haxhiu emphasized.
Acting President Haxhiu said that twenty-five years after September 11, we have a generation that did not live through that day; for them, September 11 is history learned from the accounts of those who experienced it, from photographs and from images that have remained etched in the world’s memory.
“This is also why, after a quarter of a century, it is not enough just to remember those who lost their lives. We must also tell those who came after what happened that day, how quickly the ordinary course of life can be disrupted, but also how much one person can do for another in the most difficult moments. Younger generations must also know that the solidarity of those days quickly turned into political action. NATO, for the first time in its history, invoked Article 5, according to which an attack against one ally is considered an attack against all,” stated Acting President Haxhiu.
Acting President Haxhiu further said that twenty-five years later, memory takes us back once again to that clear morning and to the 2,977 people who started an ordinary day but never returned home, it takes us back to their families and to all those who, amid the fire and chaos, risked their lives to save someone else’s life.
“Kosovo felt its pain then and shares its memory today, honouring the victims and preserving that same closeness that was demonstrated during the most difficult days for our two countries. May the memory of the victims of September 11 be eternal,” said Acting President Haxhiu.
