For the first time since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, a missile fell on the territory of a NATO member country. There is no data to show that it was a deliberate act of attack on Poland by Russia -investigations are underway to determine the origin of the missile- so it is not possible (for now) to invoke Article 5 of NATO, But the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has already discussed with the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, the conditions of use of Article 4.
What do these two articles say?
NATO Article 4 has already been activated seven times since NATO’s formation in 1949. “The Parties shall consult when, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of one of the Parties is threatened.”
That is, its objective is to start conversations between members to assess situations that may represent a latent or real threat and consider possible measures to be taken, serving as a political or geostrategic message to send to a potential common enemy.
The talks can be formal or informal – inside or outside the North Atlantic Council – and take various formats, from the most basic model – which involves the simple exchange of information – to more complex models, in which the governments of the invoking countries They have already made decisions about the measures to be taken and seek to articulate them.
At the end of the talks, the principle of consensus for decision-making is adopted, which means that all the measures adopted are expressions of the collective will of all the member countries.
Article 5 was only invoked once, after the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in the United States on September 11, 2001.
determines 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 all of them and, accordingly, agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in the exercise of its right to legitimate defense, individual or collective, recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties attacked by taking without delay, individually and in agreement with the other Parties, the actions it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and guarantee security in the North Atlantic region Any armed attack of this nature and all measures taken as a result of such an attack must be immediately reported to the Security Council Such measures shall cease as soon as as the Security Council has taken the necessary measures to restore and maintain international peace and security”.
In other words, once Article 5 has been invoked, the signatory countries agree that an armed attack against one or several NATO members will be considered an attack against all of them. Thus, all agree to provide aid to the attacked country, even, if deemed necessary, going to war against the aggressor country.
If you prove that the missile that landed in Poland did not deliberately end up in that country, NATO will not be able to activate Article 5.
Currently, 30 countries are part of NATO: Albania, Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechia, Croatia, Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, United States, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania , Luxembourg , North Macedonia, Montenegro, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Romania, Turkey.
Source: TSF
