Poland asks NATO to activate Article 4 over Russian drone incursion
Poland asks NATO to activate Article 4 over Russian drone incursion
Note that invoking Article 4 is basically calling a conference among NATO members on a security problem. It’s not a “situation normal” sort of thing, but it’s Article 5 that deals with conflict.
www.nato.int/cps/en/…/official_texts_17120.htm
Article 4
The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.
Article 5
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.
Any such armed attack and all measures taken as a result thereof shall immediately be reported to the Security Council. Such measures shall be terminated when the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and security .
EDIT: Article 4 has been invoked seven times in NATO’s history prior to this, mostly by Turkey:
It’s not a “situation normal” sort of thing, but it’s Article 5 that deals with conflict.
Then I’d say it’s the best thing to do currently.
www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_49187.htm
Since the Alliance’s creation in 1949, Article 4 has been invoked seven times:
All NATO decisions are made by consensus, after discussion and consultation among member countries. Consultation between member states is therefore at the heart of NATO, since Allies are able to exchange views and information, and discuss issues prior to reaching agreement and taking action.
As The Times reports about the drones shot down in Poland:
The Shahed 136 — or Geran 2 in Russian — has become the most frequently used in the Ukraine war. Russia has begun mass producing them on their own soil.
The plant in Alabuga in the Tatarstan region of Russia, is staffed primarily with migrant labour, some of which is from Africa. Japanese media also reported that the supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, is to send 25,000 workers there.
Not everything is made in Russia. The four-cylinder engine is made by a Chinese company, Xiamen Limbach, while the high-tech parts of the drone — the signal generators and converters — are manufactured by the Beijing Microelectronics Technology Institute.
The four-cylinder engine is made by a Chinese company, Xiamen Limbach
…which was a German company bought by the Chinese in 2011.
It was and is a problem to carelessly have sold so much industry to them.
Looking briefly, it appears the current owner basically bought the company out of bankruptcy. It doesn’t appear that the motors are particularly novel.
The owner is a dual German/Chinese national, be was done so at a time of amicable relations. Even today such a sale would (IMHO) likely not be seen as geopolitically significant.