Why didn’t Romania apply at least Article 4 of NATO after the fall of the Russian Shaheeds?

After the fall of the “Shahed” in Romania, NATO Article 4 was not activated/Illustrative collage of Channel 24

Russia continues to attack Ukraine with kamikaze drones “Shahed”. There are already several episodes when drones flew into Romanian territory and crashed there.

Therefore, the question arises why the country is not trying to apply at least Article 4 of NATO. A long-time representative of the Alliance, Jamie Shea, who worked in it for more than 38 years, helped to shed light on it in a commentary for Channel 24.

For consultations, article 4 is not needed

< p>Let's start with the article itself. It allows for crisis counseling, Shea explains. At the same time, he noted thatit is not necessary to refer to this articlefor NATO to respond.

“I mean, if you invoke Article 4, as Turkey did, for example, in the incidents with the Kurds in Syria, from time to time you get some semblance of a reaction. You raise the political level, but this is not Article 5, this is not a direct collective response from NATO, and you don't expect that such consultations will always lead to any action. The question is whether you want to increase political status, or whether you take a more restrained approach to this issue,” he said.

According to him,NATO allies are reacting even without activating Article 4.In fact, the US is already sending Romania additional F-16s to patrol its skies. That is, the Alliance is strengthening air patrol, as well as the use of sensors, intelligence collection, and so on. At the same time, according to him, the use of Article 4 is “somewhat discreditable.”

You can use it if you want to increase your political level, but you do not have to refer on her in order to receive any assistance from NATO or through bilateral dialogue. And, as you have seen, this is exactly what has been happening in recent days,” he noted.

What does Article 4 imply?

It assumes that the parties will hold consultations every time one of them consider that there is a threat to territorial integrity, political independence or security. However, it does not imply the direct military participation of other NATO members.

Please note that drone fragments similar to those used by Russia to attack Ukraine have already been detected three times on the territory of Romania. After the latest incident, the Alliance continues to insist that they have no information that the Kremlin is deliberately attacking the territory of the allies. At the same time, NATO stands in solidarity with Romania.