NATO allies are currently holding consultations under Article 4 provisions after Russian drones repeatedly violated Polish airspace on Wednesday night, Lithuanian Defence Minister Dovilė Šakalienė says.
“Consultations are indeed already taking place in the context of Article 4, and we will find out in the near future how it will be further activated, that is, what measures Poland could request and propose for implementation,” the minister told reporters.
She reiterated that she considers the incident an escalation.
Under NATO’s Article 4, any NATO country may request consultations with its allies if it believes that it is threatened.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that 19 violations of the country’s airspace were detected overnight and that three drones were shot down. Warsaw considers this incident an act of aggression.
The government of Belarus, which is an ally of Russia, said it had shot down several drones flying over its airspace overnight and claimed to have informed Warsaw and Vilnius that drones were approaching their airspace from Ukrainian territory.
Šakalienė refrained from commenting on these statements.
Two incidents involving Gerbera drones entering Lithuanian airspace were recorded over the summer. One of them was carrying two kilograms of explosives. In both cases, it is believed that the drones were sent to Ukraine but were deflected by Kyiv’s forces.
Following these events, NATO experts assessed Lithuania’s airspace surveillance system. They are currently preparing an analysis, which will be presented on Wednesday to Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) Alexus Grynkewich who is coming to Vilnius.
“I believe that in the context of tonight’s situation, we will be able to expand this discussion,” Šakalienė said.
She insisted that “the defence of NATO’s eastern border is the shared responsibility of all alliance members”, calling for additional capabilities.
Additional capabilities
Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said the activation of Article 4 may lead to additional deployments to NATO’s eastern flank.
“We know that Poland has requested Article 4 consultations. All those precedents when Article 4 consultations were held in NATO [...], all those deliberations ended with concrete decisions. What else shall and can NATO do?” the minister told reporters on Wednesday.
He said the move to call consultations showed that NATO took the situation seriously and “additional capabilities are likely to be deployed here in the region”.
According to Budrys, assessing the situation is currently extremely important for making further decisions.
“We need to increase the number of measures here. This is not just our border, it is the border of the entire NATO, and therefore the responsibility to defend it is not ours alone. We are fulfilling our responsibility, but NATO must also invest,” Budrys said.
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