Article 4 NATO is active after the incident in Poland, what does that mean?

Poland requested the activation of Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty in connection with the violation of its airspace by drones and NATO immediately complied. This followed an unprecedented incident in which Russian drones allegedly violated Polish airspace during a night attack on western Ukraine.

The Polish armed forces described the incident as a "provocation" and shot down four of them. The incident ran from midnight to 6.30am, caused damage to civilian property - including damage to a family home in the village of Wyryki-Wola - and temporarily closed Warsaw airport, affecting thousands of passengers. There were no casualties.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in a speech to Parliament, immediately called for the activation of Article 4. "Article 4 is just the beginning for deeper cooperation to secure our skies and our border, which is a NATO border," He added. Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski summed it up: "When one or two drones veer off course, it may be a mistake, but 19 disruptions are impossible to explain by chance."

NATO reacted quickly: Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed the activation and called an emergency meeting of the North Atlantic Council. "We are in close consultation with Poland and allies. The incident poses a serious threat," Rutte said in a statement on the NATO website. "Whether it was intentional or not, it is absolutely reckless and dangerous. But last night showed that we are capable of defending every inch of NATO territory, including its airspace."

In response, fighter jets from the Netherlands (F-35), Sweden (Gripen) and Italy were deployed to secure the airspace. German Patriot systems were put on standby and allies, including the UK and Germany, expressed full solidarity.

British Defence Secretary John Healey has described the event as "dangerous and unprecedented" and ordered to consider strengthening the defences over Poland.

Article 4, enshrined in the 1949 Washington Treaty, obliges member states to consult each other, "whenever, in the opinion of either Party, a threat to the territorial integrity, political independence or security of either Party arises".

Unlike Article 5, which activates collective defence in the event of an armed attack, Article 4 allows for discussion and coordination of measures such as defence reinforcement or information sharing without the need for military intervention. It has been activated seven times since NATO's founding, most recently in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

This mechanism is used to prevent escalation. For example, in 2014, after the annexation of Crimea, Poland triggered consultations, which led to the deployment of NATO rotational forces in Eastern Europe. In 2012, Turkey activated Article 4 after the Syrian shelling, which brought Patriot systems. As the former secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg: "Article 4 is a tool for dialogue that allows us to respond to threats before they become crises."

Russia denies the incident: The Ministry of Defence claims that the drones had a range of 700 km and targeted only Ukraine (Lviv, Vinnytsia, Ivano-Frankivsk). Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov he described it as "coincidence" and refused to be provoked. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Warning: "This sets a dangerous precedent for Europe" and offered up his radar data.

The activation of Article 4 signals risks for NATO. Poland (4.7 % GDP on defence) calls for strengthening air defence and US troops. The US has promised to defend "every inch". Consultations can lead to "drone walls" or sanctions. As Tusk said: "This is just the beginning."

gnews.cz - GH