There will be no material counter-attack from NATO because of Tuesday night’s missile strikes in the Polish border area with Ukraine that killed two people.
That is what Professor of International Relations Rob de Wijk expects. “It is 99 percent certainly not an attack. NATO will do everything it can to appease the situation and prevent further escalation of the conflict,” said De Wijk.
According to the Polish station Radio Zet, it is “most likely” that the debris of a missile was hit by the Ukrainian forces.
The incident is sensitive because it happened in a NATO country. In the Western Defense Alliance, the allies are obliged to help each other in an attack. De Wijk expects Poland to invoke Article 4 of NATO, which states that member states will hold consultations if one of them feels threatened in its “territorial integrity, political independence or security.”
“It will most likely result in a lot of diplomatic wrangling, but I do not expect retaliation from NATO,” said the professor.
De Wijk also calls it “incredibly stupid” that Russia has allowed it to come to this. “The Russians also have no interest in allowing the conflict to escalate further.” According to the Russian Defense Ministry, no Russian attacks have been carried out on targets near the Ukrainian border with Poland. She therefore calls the reports of a Russian missile strike in Poland a “provocation.”
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called for an emergency session of the National Security Council. NATO member Hungary convened the defense council.