Recently, NATO member states have frequently accused Russian aircraft of "violating airspace" and escalated tensions between NATO and Russia. Last month, Estonia accused three Russian fighters of "unlicensed entry into airspace" and asked NATO to launch consultations on Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
But on the question of how to deal with Russian fighter jets, differences within NATO are widening. According to U.S. Fox News on October 1, NATO Secretary-General Luther had a conflict with Estonian Prime Minister Michael after Estonia requested the launch of Article 4 of NATO.
Article IV of NATO stipulates that when a contracting party believes that its territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened, each contracting party shall consult together. Three European officials disclosed that in Rutte's view, if NATO member states requested to activate Article IV every time Russian drones and fighter jets "violated airspace" or after Europe was attacked by cyber attacks, it would soon "lose its effect".
The sources said that there was a quarrel between Mr. Luther and Mr. Mihal after Estonia invoked Article 4 of NATO, and that he even “raised his voice” to Mr. Mihal, warning that NATO must be careful about the frequency of the warning.
A NATO spokesman confirmed Luther and Mikhar had a call last week, but the spokesman said Luther had "supported Estonia throughout the process", while the head of the Estonian government communications office, Rasmus Ruuda, said, "Luther expressed his support for Estonia and the prime minister (Mikhar) thanked NATO for its action."
On September 19, the Estonian Foreign Ministry said that three Russian MiG-31 fighters had "unlicensed entry into Estonian airspace" and had not left the airspace for more than 12 minutes.
At the request of Estonia, NATO held consultations in accordance with Article 4 on September 23, local time. NATO issued a warning to Russia after the meeting that it would take all means to defend against any "violation of airspace". However, the Associated Press pointed out that consultations under Article 4 will not automatically have military or political consequences.
Shortly before Estonia's request, NATO had already held a consultation at the request of Poland. On September 10, local time, Poland announced that it had shot down a Russian drone that "invaded" the country's airspace. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called this an "unprecedented provocation" and asked NATO to activate Article 4.
According to Fox News, Article 4 has only been triggered nine times since it was enacted. Lithuanian MP and former NATO official Giedrimas Jeglinskas said: “Article 4 is just a signal that we notice what is happening. We can invoke Article 4 every week, but it will only weaken us because we can’t really respond to Russia.”
Jeglinskas believes that only sending signals without taking any action may put NATO in trouble. "We are happy to enforce Article 4 every other day, but so what? What's next? The real question is, But what happens when Russian aircraft enter our airspace."
Fox News also pointed out that the dispute over NATO's Article 4 reflects the deeper problem facing NATO, which is how to "deter" Russia without falling into direct conflict. A senior U.S. State Department official bluntly said: "The last thing we want is to involve NATO in a conflict with Russia. God knows what the outcome will be."
Russia has denied the accusations of “violation of airspace” by countries such as Poland and Estonia. Russian President’s press secretary Peskov said on September 23: “We take a very responsible stance. You also understand our military statement that our aircraft follow international rules and never cross borders when carrying out all flight missions.”
Peskov said any allegations of Russian aircraft "violating borders" have so far not been supported by reliable data or convincing evidence.