For now, “no automatic triggering of article 5”says General Ben Hodges, who commanded the American army in Europe from 2012 to 2017, at the time of the annexation of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine.
Article 5 of the Atlantic Alliance Treaty stipulates that if a Member State is the victim of an armed attack, the others will consider this act of violence as an armed attack directed once morest all the members and will take the measures deemed necessary to come to the aid of the attacked country.
It is a clear reminder of Russia’s irresponsible willingness to fire too close to the border between Poland, NATO and the EU.
“My feeling is that this is not an intentional Russian attack. It’s either a malfunction or the result of the downing of a Russian missile by the Ukrainians. But it is a clear reminder of Russia’s irresponsible willingness to fire too close to the border between Poland, NATO and the EU. In this case, Article 4 consultations seem appropriate, until we have more facts.”
Furthermore, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, announced that he would propose “a coordination meeting on Wednesday with EU leaders” present at the G20 in Bali, following speaking with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
The head of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, will hold a “emergency meetingWednesday with Alliance ambassadors regarding the deadly explosion in Poland, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.
