Poland's president says no indication missile strike on village was intentional

FILE PHOTO: Poland's President Andrzej Duda smiles before his speech outside a hall during the opening ceremony of the 30th International Defence Industry Exhibition, in Kielce, September 5, 2022. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

Poland's president said on Wednesday there was no indication the rocket strike that killed two in southeast Poland was intended to hit the country.

"There is no indication that this was an intentional attack on Poland. (...) it was not a rocket aimed at Poland," Polish President Andrzej Duda said during a press conference with the Prime Minister.

"We have no evidence that the rocket was launched by the Russian side, there is a high probability that the rocket was used by the Ukrainian defense forces," he said.

FILE PHOTO: Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki attends a news conference during the Informal EU 27 Summit and Meeting within the European Political Community at Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, October 6, 2022. REUTERS/Eva Korinkova

Poland is still analyzing the possibility of launching the NATO Article 4 procedure, but it seems it may not be necessary to use that measure, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said

NATO ambassadors are holding an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss Tuesday's explosion at a grain dryer in eastern Poland near the Ukrainian border, which occurred while Russia was firing scores of missiles at cities across Ukraine.

PM Morawiecki said that most of the evidence gathered as of today indicates that "in this path the activation of Article 4 will not be necessary, but this instrument is in our hands".

(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Anna Koper, Alan Charlish, Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by Toby Chopra)