“Respond together when member states are attacked”
Watch out for security threats
A Russian-made missile has landed in the border area of Poland, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), with Ukraine in eastern Ukraine, killing two people. This is the first time that Russian-made weapons have fallen on NATO member countries, and there is a possibility that Article 5 of the NATO Charter, which is a basis for collective defense, could be invoked depending on the results of the investigation investigation, including who launched the launch.
US President Joe Biden held an emergency meeting with the leaders of the seven major countries (G7) and NATO on the 16th morning in Bali, Indonesia. Present were the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the French President Emmanuel Macron.
President Biden had previously discussed the incident with Polish President Andrzej Duda and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. “We will investigate and find out exactly what happened,” he said, “then we will decide the next steps together.” It is interpreted to mean that the response will be held until clear results are obtained.
The leaders of the G7 and NATO member states also expressed their condolences to the victims of the Polish missile incident through a joint statement, fully supported Poland’s fact-finding and said they would be in close contact with the Poland for adequate follow-up measures.
“Many countries have the same type of weapon,” a French presidential office official said in an interview with AFP, “checking the type of missile doesn’t necessarily confirm who is behind it.”
A NATO official told CNN that NATO military reconnaissance planes were following the path of the missile that crashed in Poland. NATO has conducted regular patrols in the vicinity of Ukraine since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. CNN explained that at the time of the incident, NATO reconnaissance planes were monitoring the skies over Poland. However, NATO officials have not disclosed who and where the missiles were fired at Poland. On the morning of the 16th, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg convened a meeting at headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, to discuss future countermeasures.
Attention is turning to the possibility that NATO will adopt a collective response. Poland is considering activating Article 4 of the NATO Charter. According to Article 4 of the NATO Charter, member states can request consultations with the rest of the Allies if their territorial integrity and security are threatened. Poland immediately convened an emergency committee on national security and strengthened military readiness.
If Russia is confirmed as a launching entity, Article 5 of the NATO Charter could be triggered. The clause stipulates that if a member state is attacked, it will be considered an attack against the member state as a whole. As a result, member states will consult each other and take the necessary measures, including military action. There is no fixed deadline for the consultations and military intervention is not automatic. Since the organization’s inception in 1949, seven meetings on countermeasures against threats to the security of member states have been held, but the provision has only been invoked once, immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001.
