Baltic countries join in asking NATO Article 4 consultations as Ukraine is attacked
All three Baltic countries on February 24 asked NATO for Article 4 consultations following Russia’s early morning attack on Ukraine, official sources and local media reported.
In an official statement, the Estonian government said it had decided to trigger NATO consultations under Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty “together with Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and other allies.”
Estonian media reported that the country’s Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets was in Kyiv February 24 to offer support to Ukraine, also saying that there were Estonian soldiers in the country, apparently on training missions.
In Riga, Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš called an emergency meeting of the government, while Lithuanian media reported that Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte would ask for a state of emergency in the Baltic country and a special session of the parliament, or Seimas to discuss the implications of Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
News reports later confirmed that Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda had declared a state of emergency subject to approval by the Seimas.
Kariņš confirmed on his Twitter account that Latvia was joining Estonia and Lithuania in asking for NATO Article 4 consultations.
