Poland announced the refusal to apply the fourth article of the NATO treaty

The Polish authorities have decided not to apply the fourth article of the NATO agreement on urgent consultations with members of the alliance after the emergency with the fall of a Ukrainian missile in the country. This was stated by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

“In fact, we are holding these consultations. But, indeed, within the framework of the Washington Defense Treaty there is Article 4, which obliges the participants to hold consultations in the event of a threat. We, together with the President, within the framework of the National Security Committee, decided late last night that we are testing the prerequisites for the use of Article 4. And if they are, then our ambassador had the opportunity to use it, ”- declared Polish politician (TASS quote). He explained that the refusal to activate this article is due to the fact that we are not talking about a deliberate attack on Poland.

“According to our information at the moment, there was no plan to attack Polish territory. Therefore, we did not activate the fourth article, but kept it ready, ”Morawiecki added.

The incident with the fall of a rocket on the territory of Poland occurred on the evening of November 15. Local media reported that two people were killed in the incident. The Russian Defense Ministry denied Moscow’s involvement in the incident, and called media publications with such accusations “a deliberate provocation.” Later, the department said that a missile of the S-300 complex, which is in service with Ukraine, fell in Poland. The fall of the Ukrainian air defense missile was also announced by US President Joe Biden at a meeting with the leaders of the G7 countries and NATO.

Polish President Andrzej Duda, in turn, admitted that there is no evidence that the rocket that fell on Polish territory was fired by the Russian military. According to Duda, there is a high probability that this missile belonged to the Ukrainian air defense.

At the White House today declaredthat Washington adheres to the version that the missile that fell on the territory of Poland was launched by Ukrainian air defense. At the same time, the Ukrainian side has already expressed disagreement with such conclusions.