Czech politician and ambassador to the United States Petr Gandalovič is worried about some of what he's been seeing on social media in the wake of the capture of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects: People are confusing his home country with the eastern European republic where Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev traced their roots.
In an official statement from the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gandalovič set the record straight, once and for all: Chechnya is not the Czech Republic.
His statement in full:
As many I was deeply shocked by the tragedy that occurred in Boston earlier this month. It was a stark reminder of the fact that any of us could be a victim of senseless violence anywhere at any moment.
As more information on the origin of the alleged perpetrators is coming to light, I am concerned to note in the social media a most unfortunate misunderstanding in this respect. The Czech Republic and Chechnya are two very different entities -- the Czech Republic is a Central European country; Chechnya is a part of the Russian Federation.
As the President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman noted in his message to President Obama, the Czech Republic is an active and reliable partner of the United States in the fight against terrorism. We are determined to stand side by side with our allies in this respect, there is no doubt about that.
Petr Gandalovič
Ambassador of the Czech Republic
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