“Together with the President, within the framework of our broader Security Committee, we made the decision late last night that we are verifying the prerequisites for the use of Article 4, and if they exist, then our ambassador have full plenipotency to use this article”, said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Wednesday 16 November, asked about the possibility of using Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty.

The head of the Polish government pointed out that since the course of events and the information coming in during the night meant that “we could come to the conclusion that this was not an intentional attack, we therefore did not initiate Article 4, but we keep it in mind and this approach was met with the full understanding of all our allies”, added Morawiecki.

According to Article 4 of the treaty, “the Parties will consult jointly whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any Party is threatened”. The activation of Article 4 implies consultation by member states on threats and ways to counter them.

Meanwhile, Deputy Foreign Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk revealed that “there was great pressure on Poland to admit that it was an attack by Russia, this is what the Prime Minister said, this would mean a completely different dynamic of events in our country and in the world”.

Poland claims that the explosion on Tuesday 15 November in Przewodów was the result of an unfortunate accident and that a Ukrainian air defence missile fell on Polish territory. However, the Polish president and NATO are in no doubt that the Russian Federation, which carried out a massive shelling of Ukraine that day, is ultimately to blame for the whole incident.

Adrian Andrzejewski