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Russia violates NATO airspace repeatedly with attack aircraft.

Does this invoke article 5?

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  • Overflights happened all the time in the cold war and there was no talk about war then.
    – Joe W
    Commented Jun 17 at 16:00

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For all practical purposes, article 5 is invoked by member governments, not by Russian provocations. After such an event, they would confer and decide what, if any, action becomes necessary to "to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area." It is conceivable that serious provocations trigger a chain of events which lead to "action as [the member states] deem[s] necessary, including the use of armed force," but this would be based on a more comprehensive judgement than the mere fact of overflights taking place.

The apparent purpose of Russian provocations is to distract Western countries from giving aid to Ukraine. By now, it would be newsworthy if no Kremlin spokesperson threatens nuclear war on a given day, so they have to escalate their provocations.

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    And, of course, "action as [the member states] deem[s] necessary" can be "nothing", even if Article 5 is invoked.
    – Jörg W Mittag
    Commented Jun 17 at 7:47
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    But on the other hand even the "mere fact that overflights take place" could in principle lead to a war with NATO. People tend to get a bit picky if territorial integrity is threatened even if only in the air. Good thing is that humans decide that and there is no automatism.
    – NoDataDumpNoContribution
    Commented Jun 17 at 10:26
  • @NoDataDumpNoContribution, I have a little faith that NATO governments would not go to war over a few overflights unless they decide that the overflights signify a pattern of escalation.
    – o.m.
    Commented Jun 17 at 15:26
  • @o.m. Sure, me too but I wonder how wars start. If a party want to start a war does it matter how. Just imagine a Russian tactical bomber capable of carrying nuclear arms flying over London and claiming the pilots were only tourists admiring the scenery. What would the UK do as an answer?
    – NoDataDumpNoContribution
    Commented Jun 17 at 19:28
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    @NoDataDumpNoContribution, read up on Operation Jiu Jitsu. By that precedent, protests but no war ...
    – o.m.
    Commented Jun 18 at 4:16

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