Polish PM mulls asking NATO to hold talks amid border crisis

Poland's prime minister says Poland, Lithuania and Latvia are considering asking NATO for emergency talks as they struggle to manage a tense standoff on their borders with Belarus

WARSAW, Poland -- Poland, Lithuania and Latvia are considering asking NATO to hold emergency talks as they struggle to manage a tense migration standoff on their borders with Belarus, the Polish prime minister said Sunday.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he and his counterparts for the two Baltic states are discussing whether to ask for such talks under Article 4 of the NATO treaty, which allows any ally to request consultations if it feels its territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened.

Still, it's a step that has only been taken a few times in the history of the Western alliance.

The authoritarian Belarusian regime in Minsk has for months been orchestrating a flow of migrants across its border into the three European Union nations, which form the eastern flank of both the EU and NATO. They have been reinforcing their borders, seeking to block the newly opened migration route.