Poland Invokes NATO Article 4 after Russian Drones Breach Airspace

Audio By Carbonatix

Russia may very well have stepped over a vague line drawn in the sand on Tuesday when at least 19 Russian drones crossed into Poland’s airspace while Russia was in the process of bombarding Ukraine with hundreds of drones. Poland was able to preemptively shoot down some of the drones that violated its airspace. Fortunately, no lives were lost in Poland, but some residential areas in some villages were damaged. Poland was quick to invoke Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO treaty). This move means emergency consultations are enacted among the 32 member states who are a part of the European security pact, according to the UN News. 

Besides Russia, Romania, which shares a border with Ukraine, reported on Saturday that a drone crossed into its airspace while Russia was bombarding Ukraine. They responded with the quick takeoff of two F-16 jets, which tracked the drone until “it disappeared from the radar” close to the village of Chilia, the Romanian defense ministry said in a statement released to The Guardian. 

Trump Wants to Believe Russia Violation of Polish Airspace Was Accidental 

President Trump wanted to believe that the drone activity was a mistake on Russia’s part, but Poland and NATO are not seeing it that way.

“We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake. But it wasn’t. And we know it,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk said via a social media post picked up by CBS News.

The NATO Security Council met on Friday to discuss the situation in Ukraine and the drones that made their way into Polish airspace. 

NATO Security Council Recognizes Russia Must Be Stopped

“We are further away from peace than we have ever been,” said Ukraine’s NATO delegate, according to UN News. “Just two days ago, Moscow decided it was not enough to keep murdering Ukrainians…this was not a technical error [but] a conscious decision of Russia to cross yet another red line.”

He was insistent that the patience of the international community was being tested, and perhaps their resolve to actually respond, because “Tomorrow, it could be drones or even missiles falling on Berlin, Paris, or London,” and “we must stop this madness before it swallows us all.”

He went on to note that he believes if Russia is allowed to continue on its present path, “we are starting into an abyss of a Third World War.”

During the Security Council emergency session, Polish Secretary of State Marcin Bosacki reiterated Poland’s stance that the Russian drones that showed up in Poland weren’t a mistake and that “Russia wants to set the region on fire. We must not allow a violation of airspace to become the accepted norm.” 

He went on to point out that “Russia’s rhetoric” is the same sort of lies that they used decades ago in attacks on other nations.

The United States ambassador didn’t mince words regarding the stance that the United States is taking, insisting that whether the invasion of Poland’s and Romania’s airspace was “intentionally or otherwise,” it indicates “immense disrespect for good-faith U.S. efforts to bring an end to this conflict.”

She added, “The United States stands by our NATO allies in the face of these alarming airspace violations…Rest assured, we will defend every inch of NATO territory.”

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/NurPhoto/Contributor

Elizabeth Delaney has been a freelance content writer for over 20 years and has enjoyed having her prose published in both the non-fiction and fiction markets. She has written various types of content, including Christian articles, healthy lifestyle, blog posts, business topics, news articles, product descriptions, and some fiction. She is also a singer-songwriter-musician. When she is not busy with writing or music, she enjoys spending time with friends or family and doing fun social activities such as hiking, swing dancing, concerts, and other activities.