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Summary for: Pavel honors two Czech victims of 9/11 during New York visitPresident Petr Pavel paid tribute in New York on Monday to two Czechs killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He stopped at the names of Lukáš Rambousek and Alena Sešínová at the World Trade Center memorial, then laid a wreath at the Tree of Freedom.
The visit came 10 days after the United States marked the 25th anniversary of the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people. For Czechs, Rambousek and Sešínová’s names are a reminder of the country’s own losses that day.
“Most of us still remember exactly what we were doing that day, because we were all shocked by it,” Pavel told Czech journalists at the memorial. “And ultimately, that was the goal, because the goal of terrorism is precisely to shock.”
Remembering the Czech victims
Pavel also visited the memorial in 2023, leaving a red and a white rose beside the two names. ČTK reported at the time that both victims died in the World Trade Center towers.
On Monday, the president said the lessons of terrorist attacks and other conflicts extend beyond remembrance. In remarks to Czech reporters, he argued that yielding to violence can encourage further aggression, referring to Czechoslovakia’s experience before World War II.
His stop at the memorial was part of a visit to the United States centered on this week’s UN General Assembly. Pavel is leading the Czech delegation and is expected to deliver the country’s national address on Wednesday.
Czechia’s UN bid
Pavel met UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday. He said he thanked Guterres for his efforts to reform the organization and told him Czechia would continue supporting changes to the General Assembly and Security Council.
The president also raised Czechia’s campaign for a nonpermanent seat on the Security Council for 2032 and 2033. The election is scheduled for 2031, with all 193 UN member states able to vote by secret ballot.
Winning support will take years of meetings with countries across different regions, Pavel said. His New York schedule includes talks with foreign leaders as Czechia seeks backing for its candidacy.
Czechia last held a nonpermanent Security Council seat in 1994 and 1995. It made another bid in 2007 but lost the election to Croatia.
