NATO officially invoked Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty at Poland's request on September 10th, 2025, following overnight Russian drone incursions into Polish airspace. This marks the first time Article 4 has been invoked since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, according to a government spokesperson for TVP. The action initiates consultations among alliance members to discuss the incident, which involved multiple Russian drones and an unidentified missile entering Polish territory. Polish authorities confirmed the recovery of missile and drone debris across multiple locations in Lublin Voivodeship, including Zamość, Biała Podlaska, Parczew, Włodawa, and Radzyń. Approximately 12,000 police officers have been involved in the search operations. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk described the incursions as an "unprecedented and incomparably more dangerous provocation," stating that over 20 Russian unmanned aerial vehicles violated Polish airspace overnight, with the last drone destroyed at 6:45 AM UTC. Dutch F-35 fighter jets intercepted some of these drones within the NATO framework. In parallel, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance reiterated the Trump administration's stance that it does not seek to economically isolate Russia, viewing cooperation as a path to ending the conflict. Vance stated earlier this morning that President Trump sees no reason for economic isolation of Russia. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expressed "full solidarity with Poland," calling the airspace violation "unacceptable" and reiterating Hungary's call for peace and support for President Donald Trump's peace efforts. Sentiment analysis of online comments in Poland by ResFutura indicates that 38% of users blame Ukraine for the drone incursion, 34% blame Russia, 15% blame the Polish government, 8% blame the media, and 5% blame NATO/the West. Polish President Andrzej Duda characterized the events as an "unprecedented moment" for NATO and Poland, leading to the consideration of invoking Article 4. Experts suggest the drone attacks, prepared since July, may have been for intelligence gathering on Poland's air defense systems in preparation for the "Zapad-2025" military drills. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed its forces struck military-industrial complex enterprises in Ukraine and stated that "Objects for defeat on the territory of Poland were not planned."
