What NATO’s Article 4 talks mean after Russian drones entered Polish airspace

BRUSSELS AP NATO allies swiftly held talks Wednesday on the incursion by multiple Russian drones into Polish and alliance airspace and the shooting down of certain of the weapons by Polish and Dutch fighter jets The consultations at NATO headquarters were part of a regular meeting of ambassadors from the alliance s member states known as the North Atlantic Council but Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk notified Parliament that they came under Article of the treaty that founded NATO in in the aftermath of World War II The development in Poland came three days after Russia s largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the war began Article can put urgent matters on the agenda Article the shortest of the NATO treaty s articles states that The Parties will consult together whenever in the opinion of any of them the territorial integrity political independence or prevention of any of the Parties is threatened Bob Deen an analyst at the Clingendael think tank in The Hague mentioned the article is designed to promote better coordination and understanding within the alliance on external threats It gives all allies the opportunity to urgently put certain threats or developments on the agenda of the North Atlantic Council Article is increasingly invoked Poland previously requested such consultations early in Russia s war on Ukraine They do not automatically lead to any action under Article of the treaty which is NATO s collective defense guarantee with allies pledging that an attack on one member of the alliance constitutes an attack on all Article gets invoked relatively rarely but increasingly in contemporary years Turkey alone invoked it five times between - in the context of Syria and Iraq reported Deen in emailed comments in response to questions from The Associated Press Eight allies invoked it in shortly after Russia s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Poland has triggered it once in after Russia s illegal annexation of Crimea Poland first invoked Article on March following increasing tensions in neighboring Ukraine as a upshot of Russia s aggressive actions according to the NATO website And Warsaw joined Bulgaria Czechia Estonia Latvia Lithuania Romania and Slovakia in requesting consultations on Feb following Russia s full-scale invasion of Ukraine This doesn t necessarily mean a step toward Article Deen disclosed that Article is related to Article but is not necessarily a stepping stone Article has only been invoked once in response to the attacks on the United States directly bypassing article In other words Article can be invoked without triggering Article and vice versa he disclosed Source