12:51 10-09-2025

Poland Seeks NATO Article 4 Talks After Drone Airspace Breach

Polish PM Donald Tusk calls for NATO Article 4 consultations after 19 drones entered Polish airspace from Belarus. NATO does not classify the case as an attack.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has asked Warsaw’s NATO allies to invoke Article 4 of the Washington Treaty, commonly known as the NATO Charter. His request followed an incident in which 19 drones crossed into Polish airspace during the night.

Tusk announced at an emergency session of the Sejm that consultations with allies had taken the form of an official request to activate Article 4. This provision obliges NATO members to begin consultations whenever they believe the territorial integrity, political independence, or security of a member state is under threat.

On September 10, Tusk reported that 19 drones had entered Polish airspace from the direction of Belarus. He described the drones as Russian but did not present any supporting evidence. According to Reuters, NATO headquarters in Brussels does not view the incident as an «attack.»

This is not the first such security scare. In 2022, missiles landed on Polish territory near the border with Ukraine, killing two people. At first, Warsaw blamed Russia, but later acknowledged that the most likely cause was Ukrainian S-300 air defense missiles, launched to intercept Russian projectiles but gone off course.