Fox News: NATO chief Rutte clashes with Estonian PM over Article 4 use

On September 26, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte clashed with Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal over the use of Article 4 of the NATO Charter, Fox News reports.

Article 4 allows an alliance member to request consultations with other states if it believes its security is under threat. Estonia invoked it after alleging that Russian fighter jets violated its airspace on September 19.

According to Fox News sources, at one point, Rutte even “raised his voice at Michal.” The NATO chief cautioned the Estonian prime minister that repeatedly invoking Article 4 “could weaken its impact,” stressing that the alliance should “be more careful about how often alarm signals are raised.” Since NATO’s founding in 1949, Article 4 has only been invoked nine times.

Official NATO and Estonian representatives, however, denied that any conflict took place, saying that the secretary general “supported Estonia throughout the dialogue” and that “the Estonian prime minister thanked NATO for its actions.”

The incident in question occurred on the morning of September 19, when three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets allegedly entered Estonian airspace. Tallinn accused Moscow of violating its sovereignty, while Russia maintained that the flight was a scheduled mission conducted “in full compliance with international law.”

By Khagan Isayev