President calls meeting of National Security Council after blast in Poland

President Andrzej Duda has called a meeting of the National Security Council (RBN) for tomorrow, the head of the President's Office has said.

The meeting will be held at 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

Two people died on Tuesday afternoon after a missile struck an area where grain was drying in Przewodow, a Polish village near the border with Ukraine. The incident coincided with a massive missile attack on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure by Russia.

The president convenes the National Security Council in the event of major domestic and global security developments.

The RBN, an advisory body to the president, is composed of the Sejm and Senate speakers, the prime minister, the ministers of defence, internal affairs and foreign affairs, as well as, heads of parliamentary caucuses and clubs.

On Tuesday evening Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in coordination with President Andrzej Dudacalled an urgent meeting of the Committee of the Council of Ministers for National Security and Defence Affairs.

After that Head of Poland's Security Bureau Jacek Siewiera said: President Andrzej Dudaspoke with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.We are considering whether to invoke Article 4. We are staying in touch with Allies.

Later President Andrzej Duda held a telephone conversation his US counterpart Joe Biden. The Polish head of state also spoke with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

President Joe Biden made it clear that the US maintains its alliances and that it stands with Poland, said Andrzej Duda on Tuesday night.

President Duda, in his statement to the media, said that his US counterpart had pointed out that all provisions of the Nato Treaty were in force and that the US together with Poland would guard the security of the country as would all of Nato.

Andrzej Duda added that he had held many consultations, including one with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

He also expressed his condolences to the relatives of two citizens who, as he said, "died in the explosion, which was most likely caused by a rocket, which fell on our territory six kilometres from the Polish-Ukrainian border."

President also noted that at the moment Poland did not have any conclusive evidence who fired the rocket and that investigations were underway.

He pointed out that US president Joe Biden had declared support in the form of American experts who would aid in the probe at the site of the tragic event. "It will be an allied effort," Duda said.

"Most likely, it was a Russian-made rocket, but everything is still being examined at the moment," the president said.

The head of state also said that it was also highly probable that, on Wednesday, Poland's Ambassador to Nato Tomasz Szatkowski would apply for the activation of Nato's Article 4.

Article 4 of the NATO charter says that member states "will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security" of another member is threatened. (PAP)

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