While the claim that a Russian-made missile fell on Poland yesterday remains on the agenda, NATO convened in an extraordinary meeting after Poland put Article 4 into effect.
Founded on the basis of the North Atlantic Treaty, signed by 12 countries on April 4, 1949, NATO accepted Poland into the alliance in 1999.
The critical meeting started at 12:00 CEST. It was announced that NATO ambassadors in Brussels, headed by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, will hold a press conference after the meeting.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said the allegations about the rocket attack that hit the village of Przevodow on the Polish-Ukrainian border and killed two people were a deliberate provocation.
Russia stated that the high-precision airstrikes carried out yesterday only affected the Ukraine region, and announced that the images of the missile wreckage in Poland pointed to Ukraine’s S-300 air defense system.
US President Joe Biden informed NATO allies that the missile that fell on Poland belonged to Ukraine’s S-300 air defense system.
WHAT DOES ARTICLE 4 SAY ABOUT NATO?
According to NATO Article 5, an attack on an ally is considered an attack on all allies.
In order for the 5th element to be active, the 4th element must be active first. Poland recently took this step and called an emergency meeting of NATO. As expected to review and investigate the evidence gathered in this framework.
WHAT OPTIONS ARE ON THE TABLE?
However, activating Article 4 does not mean that NATO will engage in conflict. This means consultation before activating clause 5.
CAN NATO FIGHT RUSSIA?
In other words, at this stage, it is being investigated whether the attack was intentional. Whatever the outcome, the most likely option on the table is for the alliance to support Poland’s air defense systems rather than attack Russia, according to Fabrice Pothier, NATO’s former director of policy planning.