Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Monday he had asked NATO to start consultations under Article 4 of the alliance's treaty after Poland shot down drones in its airspace in what he called a "large-scale provocation" by Russia, BTA reported, citing Reuters.
What happened?
Poland said it had shot down 19 drones over its territory during a large-scale Russian airstrike on Ukraine, the first known case of a NATO member opening fire during the war. Russia's state news agency "RIA Novosti" quoted a Russian diplomat as calling the drone incursion allegations "baseless" and saying that Poland had not provided any evidence that the downed drones were of Russian origin. Several European officials described the drone incursion as deliberate and a sign of escalation by Russia.
What does Article 4 say?
Article 4 states that members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will consult with each other whenever any of them considers that its territory, political independence or security is threatened. Under Article 4, discussions in the North Atlantic Council – NATO's main political body, could potentially lead to some form of joint decision or action.
Since NATO's founding in 1949, Article 4 has been invoked seven times, most recently in February 2022, when Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia requested consultations following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In November 2022, NATO ambassadors held an emergency meeting after a missile strike killed two people in Poland, sparking worldwide concern that the war could spread to neighboring countries.
What is Article 5?
If Russia is found to have attacked the territory of a member state, the focus will shift to Article 5, the cornerstone of NATO's founding treaty. The alliance was created in 1949 with the US military as a powerful pillar, primarily to counter the Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc satellites during the Cold War. The charter states that "the parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all".
"They agree that if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the party or parties so attacked by taking immediately, individually and in cooperation with the other parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the Atlantic area," it says.
How could the war in Ukraine trigger the application of Article 5?
Since Ukraine is not a member of NATO, Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 did not trigger Article 5, even though the United States and other member states came to the rescue, providing military and diplomatic support to Kiev.
However, experts have long warned of the potential spread of the conflict to neighboring countries on NATO’s eastern flank, which could force the alliance to respond militarily. Such actions by Russia, whether deliberate or accidental, increase the risk of the war spreading by drawing other countries directly into the conflict.
Is Article 5 automatic?
No. After an attack on a member state, the others meet to determine whether they agree to consider it an Article 5 situation. There is no limit to how long these consultations can last, and experts say the wording is flexible enough to allow each member state to decide how to respond to an armed aggression against another. Article 5 has been invoked once before against the United States in response to the September 11, 2001, hijacked plane attacks on New York and Washington.