A stray missile from Ukraine allegedly landed in Poland killing 2 Polish citizens which is a cause of concern for NATO.
The missile supposedly landed in Eastern Poland about 15 miles from the Poland-Ukraine border. This issue is a bit of a predicament as it is the first instance of casualties that is confirmed in another country caused directly by the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The details are quite vague, as it is not clear who fired the missile or where it was fired from. Initially, a statement from the Polish foreign ministry stated that the missile was Russian-made. The Polish President, Andrzej Duda, first told reporters it was “most probably” Russian-made and that verification processes were being done to check its origin. According to reports by a news agency, Reuters, the President said that there wasn’t any concrete evidence confirming the allegations and that the particular incident was a one-off.
The president also added that Poland was increasing its military preparedness as a measure of caution.
The Associated Press, quoting officials from the U.S, stated that Ukrainian forces were responsible for firing the missile as it was fired by them in retaliation to an incoming Russian missile.
US response to the attack
In the G20 summit that is being held in Bali, Indonesia, U.S. President Joe Biden said that the initial information implied that the attack may or may not have been caused by a Russian missile, according to further reports from the Associated Press.
Biden has further reassured full support and help from the side of the U.S in investigations conducted by Poland regarding the matter and also “reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to NATO”. He also convened an emergency meeting of the G7 and NATO leaders in Indonesia for consultations regarding the matter at hand.
Biden also added that the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, was to meet the envoys of the NATO countries in Brussels.
Russia has denied the allegations that they were responsible for firing the missile. According to Reuters, the Russian defense ministry called the allegations in the reports “a deliberate provocation aimed at escalating the situation.” Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, said that he had no other information to convey on the matter at hand.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, has described the attack as “a very significant escalation” of the war. As Poland is a member of NATO, it permits NATO to retaliate and intervene in cases where any member is threatened or attacked. This can even extend to military intervention.
More about NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO was created in 1949 by the United States, Canada, and a few western European nations in an effort to provide collective security against one of the superpowers of the time, the Soviet Union. Under this treaty, if any entity were to attack any one of the members of the organization, NATO would consider it an attack against all the other member nations as well, thereby enabling them to intervene and do whatever they felt was necessary.
Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization charter says that member states “will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security” of another member is threatened. It also has a provision for North Atlantic Treaty Organization members to “exchange views and information, and discuss issues prior to reaching agreement and taking action,” according to the NATO website. “It also gives North Atlantic Treaty Organization an active role in preventive diplomacy by providing the means to help avoid military conflict.”
Meanwhile, Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization charter has a provision that says NATO members “agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all,” after which each member must take “such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.” This article authorizes NATO to set in motion an armed response, but the terms are not clear on what can be justified under the article, and its scope is quite broad and unclear.
The only time the North Atlantic Treaty Organization invoked the Article 5 clause was after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America when NATO forces set foot in Afghanistan in response to the attack.
References
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/poland-missile-russia-ukraine-war-nato-8270794/
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/nato
