Two people are said to have been killed after what is described as Russian rockets hitting Poland on Tuesday evening. The cruise missiles were probably aimed at a power station located close to the border between Ukraine and Poland. Instead, the rockets landed in the Polish village of Przewodów, six kilometers from the border. There they crashed into a grain dryer. The police and military experts will now be on the scene. Nato follows developments Nato confirms to news that they are investigating the reports about the rockets in Poland. – We are investigating these reports and coordinating closely with our ally Poland, NATO spokesperson Simone de Manso told news. Stoltenberg writes on Twitter that he called Polish President Duda and expressed his condolences this evening. – NATO is monitoring the situation, and allies are consulting closely. It is important that all the facts come to light, writes Stoltenberg on Twitter. Poland is increasing its military preparedness, according to a spokesperson from Poland. Poland is also considering whether it is appropriate to activate NATO’s Article 4, the news agency Reuters writes. EU President Charles Michel says he is shocked by the rocket strike in Poland and is in close contact with the Polish authorities. – Shocked by the news about a missile or other munition that has killed people on Polish territory. My condolences go out to the families. We stand by Poland. I am in contact with the Polish authorities, members of the EU Council and other allies, writes Michel on Twitter. Zelenskyj: – This is a Russian rocket attack against collective security An American intelligence source also states that two people were killed when Russian rockets landed in a village in the NATO country of Poland on Tuesday, writes the AP news agency. The American source, who speaks to the AP news agency, has not been named. The information has not been officially confirmed by the authorities either in Poland or the USA. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. Photo: AP Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian missiles have hit the NATO country Poland and refers to it as a very serious escalation. – Today something happened that we have been warning against for a long time. Terror is not limited to our borders. Russian rockets hit Poland, hit Nato territory. This is a Russian missile attack against collective security! This is a very serious escalation, Zelenskyj says in a video speech. The defense minister in Latvia also states that Russian rockets have landed in Poland. – The criminal Russian regime fired missiles that were not only aimed at Ukrainian civilians, but also landed on NATO territory in Poland, writes Artis Pabriks on Twitter. Russia’s Ministry of Defense calls the allegations of Russian missiles in Poland a provocation on Poland’s part, and denies that they carried out the attack. – A very serious incident Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt says the rocket strike in Poland is a very serious incident. – We have recorded the news about the missile strikes in Poland. This is a very serious incident, but much is still unclear. We await further information from the Polish authorities in the matter, says the foreign minister. Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt says the rocket strike in Poland is a very serious incident. Photo: Terje Pdersen / NTB The Polish government has called an emergency meeting of the committee for national security and defense issues. Hungary’s National Security Council is also calling for an emergency meeting following the events in neighboring Poland on Tuesday evening. – In response to the halt in oil transport through the Druzjba pipeline and rockets that hit Polish territory, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has called Hungary’s Security Council to a meeting at 8 p.m., writes Orban’s spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs on Twitter. – Very worrying The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia describes the news as very worrying. – Estonia is ready to protect every bit of NATO territory, says a statement on Twitter. Latvia and Lithuania have the same message. – We stand together with Poland, says Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala says that today’s powerful attack against Ukraine shows that Russia wants to destroy the country. And if it is true that Russian missiles have hit Poland, there will be an escalation. Slovakia’s Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad says he is very concerned, that Russia’s attacks against the neighboring country must now stop and that he fears that Russia’s recklessness has gotten out of control. Canada is in contact with the parties following the attack in Poland, according to a spokesperson for the foreign minister. – We are monitoring the situation, and are in contact with Poland and other parties, says Adrien Blanchars, who is the spokesperson for the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Canada. According to the AFP news agency, the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, expects a discussion during the G20 meeting after reports of Russian missiles in Poland. Do you think Poland will ask for NATO consultations Paal Sigurd Hilde, Associate Professor at the Norwegian Armed Forces College, tells news that it is important to first find out what has actually happened – There are various claims on social media. Some also claim that there have been Ukrainian anti-aircraft missiles that have fallen. So the first thing you have to do is find out what actually happened, emphasizes Hilde. If it were to be Russian missiles, it is the first time that they have hit NATO countries. Then Poland must consider what they want to do with the situation, says Hilde. Paal Sigurd Hilde, Associate Professor at the University of Defense, believes that it is unlikely that Article 5 will be triggered. Photo: Institute for Defense Studies – A possible and perhaps probable outcome is that they will go to NATO and ask for consultations under Article 4 of the treaty. Article 4 is the part of the treaty that deals with situations where a country’s security is threatened. Then the parties in Nato will consult with each other, according to Nato’s website. – What about Article 5? – I think it is unlikely. Article 5 will probably only be triggered if there has been a premeditated attack against Poland. And the reason I believe that is that if you trigger Article 5, then you consider that the alliance has been attacked, Poland in this case, and it will require that you take radical measures to respond, says Hilde and continues: – And if this is not a deliberate attack, then it is unlikely that you will want to put yourself in a situation where you will have to take action. I think it is far more likely that one will call for consultations and condemn what has happened in the strongest possible terms, and possibly then send reinforcements to Poland in the form of the air defense department to ensure that something like that cannot happen again. Facts about NATO Article 4 Article 4 of the Atlantic Pact in NATO states that “the parties will consult each other whenever one of them considers that the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any party is threatened.” Use of Article 4 entails consultations. It is not automatically followed by Article 5, which establishes NATO’s principle of common defence. Article 5 has only been used once, by the United States after the terrorist attacks in 2001. Turkey has used Article 4 five times, in 2003 in the run-up to the Iraq war and three times in connection with the war in Syria – in 2012 and in 2021. Latvia, Lithuania and Poland invoked Article 4 in March 2014 in response to Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula, as well as in 2022 in connection with the war in Ukraine. The last time it was together with Romania, Estonia, Bulgaria and Slovakia. Source: NTB
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Rockets hit Poland – NATO investigates the messages – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
