General Wieslaw Kukula (C),Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces attending an emegency meeting hosted by Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk (not in image) in Warsaw after Russian drones violated Polish airspace. AFP
Tusk told parliament that Poland had identified 19 violations of its airspace overnight and shot down at least three drones, adding that no one was harmed in the "Russian action".
"The allied consultations I am referring to have now taken the form of a formal request to invoke Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty," he added.
The North Atlantic Council, NATO's main political decision-making body, met on Wednesday morning for its regular weekly meeting.
However, according to diplomats, the allies decided that the meeting would be held under Article 4 of the alliance treaty.
Under Article 4, any member can call urgent talks when it feels its "territorial integrity, political independence or security" are at risk.
The Polish case marked the eighth time the article has been invoked since the alliance was founded in 1949.
Wednesday's talks are the third time Article 4 has been invoked to address Russia's incursions into and invasion of Ukraine.
NATO's collective security is based on its Article 5 principle: if one member is attacked, the entire alliance comes to its defence.
That article has only been invoked once in the history of NATO, following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
NATO air defences helped counter drones that entered Polish airspace overnight and alliance chief Mark Rutte is in contact with Warsaw, a NATO spokeswoman said Wednesday.
"Numerous drones entered Polish airspace overnight and were met with Polish and NATO air defences. The NATO Secretary General is in touch with Polish leadership and NATO is consulting closely with Poland," spokeswoman Allison Hart wrote on X.
NATO's top commander in Europe, US General Alexus Grynkewich, said the alliance reacted "quickly and decisively to the situation".
A spokesman said in a statement the incident was the "first time NATO aircrafts have engaged potential threats in allied airspace".
The statement said fighters from the Netherlands' air force had responded and engaged the potential threats.
German Patriot air defence systems in Poland were placed on alert and an Italian early warning aircraft was launched.
"NATO... is committed to defending every kilometre of NATO territory, including our airspace," the statement said.
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