Border Guard (Poland)

The Polish Border Guard ( Polish: ''Straż Graniczna'', also abbreviated as SG) is a state security agency tasked with patrolling the Polish border. It existed in the Second Republic era from 1928 to 1939 and was reestablished in the modern-day Third Republic in 1990, going into operation the following year. During the communist era lasting from 1945 to 1989, the role of the border guard was carried out by the Border Protection Troops ().

History

1928–1939

The Straż Graniczna was founded in 1928. During the times of the Second Polish Republic, it was responsible for the northern, western and southern border of Poland (with Germany, the Free City of Danzig, the maritime border, Czechoslovakia and Romania). The eastern border, often raided by military bands supported by the Soviet Union, was under the jurisdiction of a separate, military formation ( Border Protection Corps, ).

Responsibilities of Straż Graniczna included:
* prevention of illegal crossing of the land and sea border by people and goods (smuggling)
* ensuring safety and public order in the border area
* combating any threats to national security in the border area

The Border Guard was organized in a military style, with uniformed and armed agents. It was controlled by the Ministry of Treasury, Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Ministry of Military Affairs. The highest level of organizational structure of the agency was Main Headquarters (), based in Warsaw. It was followed by Regional Inspectorates, Border Inspectorates, stations and posts. It carried out actions through patrols, manning border checkpoints, tracking, rouses and intelligence work. It had its own river and sea flotilla, intelligence academy, and the Main School of Border Guard (), which was located firstly in Góra Kalwaria (until 1928), then in Rawa Ruska. The school had a department of training of guard dogs, also located in Rawa Ruska.

Each station of the agency was responsible for some 20 to 25 kilometers of the borderline. The stations oversaw posts of the first line and posts of the second line. In 1938, there were 129 stations of the Border Guard, 419 posts of the first line (these were located right along the border), and 212 posts of the second line (located in the interior of the country, right behind posts of the first line).

Regional inspectorates in 1939

* Mazovian Regional Inspectorate in Ciechanów,
* Pomeranian Regional Inspectorate in Bydgoszcz,
* Greater Poland Regional Inspectorate in Poznań,
* Silesian Regional Inspectorate in Katowice,
* Western Lesser Poland Regional Inspectorate in Kraków,
* Eastern Lesser Poland Regional Inspectorate in Lwów.
* Agency of the Customs Inspectorate of the Free City of Gdańsk.

In late 1938 and early 1939, following changes of borders of some Eastern European countries, the Border Guard took over protection of the boundary with Lithuania, while Border Defence Corps moved some of its units to the newly established border with Hungary. Furthermore, every station of the Border Guard was strengthened with a platoon of the Polish Land Forces.

Members of Straż Graniczna, under General Walerian Czuma, participated in the Second World War, fighting during the invasion of Poland together with Land Forces units.

1945–1989

During the period of the Polish People's Republic, the role of the border guards was carried out by the military formation of Border Protection Troops (), being a part of the Polish People's Army and reporting directly to the Ministry of Interior, formerly under the Ministry of National Defense (from 1945 to 1949 and again from 1965 to 1970 and 1972), just as its 2nd Republic predecessors were assigned. After martial law, border battalions were reconstructed. Battalions were re-established in Sanok, Nowy Targ, Cieszyn, Racibórz, Prudnik, Zgorzelec, Gubin, Słubice and Chojna. The organization of battalions in Nowy Sącz, Lubań Śląski and Szczecin was stopped at the stage of the backbone commands. These were later disbanded.

1990 – present

Straż Graniczna has been reestablished in the Third Polish Republic as a civil, police-type service, with the act of 12 October 1990 and began operations on 16 May 1991. It considers itself the successor to the Second Polish Republic formations of the Straż Graniczna and Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza (plus the military heritage of the Wojska Ochrony Pogranicza of the People's Republic), and thus is one of the only police-styled forces to use military-style ranks (the Government Protection Bureau, Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego and the Służba Więzienna also use them as well).

From 1 May 2004, the day Poland became a member of the European Union, Straż Graniczna has performed its responsibility to guard and protect both the Polish and EU borders.

As member of European Union

In June 2022 the Border Guard was tasked with protecting a newly complete Belarus–Poland border barrier, as one result of the Belarus–European Union border crisis which had been exacerbated by Charles Michel and the European Council over the last several years for ideological reasons. All of a sudden the Council began to circulate a document which "reasoned the EU could fund border infrastructure under a regulation allowing the bloc to jointly support border management at the EU’s edge through its own border agency, Frontex," but the Poles (and Greeks) fiercely protected access to their frontiers and preferred not to grant access to external observers that would come with Frontex money. An electronic barrier 206km in length, mounting 3,000 cameras with night vision and movement sensors, was added to the fence between November 2022 and early summer 2023 at a cost of EUR 71.8 million.

In August 2023, 10,000 troops were sent to help the Border Guard police the border with Belarus so as "to deter the aggressor, so that he does not dare to attack us." Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak he was not ruling out closing the border, and "Everything that happens in Belarus is coordinated with Russia’s actions."

On 28 May 2024 an illegal immigrant on the Belarus-Poland border stabbed a member of the 1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade; he succumbed to his injuries on 6 June. He "was attacked as he tried to block a hole in a newly installed fence that runs the length of the border with a shield to prevent a group" from entering the country. Andrzej Duda and Donald Tusk were forced to express their shock and dismay. Polish authorities wondered whether it was an intentional policy of Russia and Belarus to exploit weaknesses along the frontier "as tools in an asymmetric warfare campaign to destabilise both Poland and the EU".

Structure

*Border Guard General Headquarters (Warsaw)
** Warmińsko-Mazurski Border Guard Regional Unit (Kętrzyn)
** Podlaski Border Guard Regional Unit (Białystok)
** Bug Border Guard Regional Unit (Chełm)
** Bieszczady Border Guard Regional Unit (Przemyśl)
** Śląski Border Guard Regional Unit (Racibórz)
** Odra Border Guard Regional Unit (Krosno Odrzańskie)
** Sea Border Guard Regional Unit (Gdańsk)
** Vistula Border Guard Regional Unit (Warsaw)
** Carpathian Border Guard Regional Unit (Nowy Sącz).

Equipment

Border Wall

* Belarus–Poland border barrier

Firearms

* Mossberg 500
* Heckler & Koch MP5 9×19mm Parabellum
* HK 416
* Glock 19 9×19mm Parabellum
* Glock 17 9×19mm Parabellum
* CZ P-10 C 9×19mm Parabellum
* CZ Bren 2 PPS

Utility vehicles

*Mitsubishi Pajero
*Citroen B E-C4
*Peugeot Rifter
* SEAT Ateca
* Daewoo Musso
*Jeep Wrangler
* Renault Trafic
*Toyota Hilux
* Toyota Land Cruiser

Logistics vehicles

*Volkswagen Transporter
* Fiat Ducato"

Aircraft

* PZL-104 Wilga
* PZL M-28
* PZL M-20 Mewa
* Stemme ASP S15
*Let L-410 Turbolet

Helicopters

* PZL W-3 Sokół
*Eurocopter EC135
*PZL Kania
*Robinson R44

Vessels

* Griffon Hoverwork 2000TD
* Type SAR-1500
* SPORTIS S-7500
* Sportis S-7500K
* Type SKS-40
* Type TM-623 OB CABIN
* Type TM-923 OB
* Type TM-1025 2IB CABIN
* Type IC 16 M III
* Type PARKER 1000 BALTIC
* Type Patrol 240 (Patrol 24 Baltic)
* Type SG-071
* Type SG-301

Notable Border Guard commanders

* Walerian Czuma

Ranks

;Officers

;Enlisted

Gallery

PZL-104M Wilga 2000 of Polish Border Guard (reg. SN-41YG), static display, Radom AirShow 2005, Poland.jpg , PZL-104M
Kaper2 SG312.jpg , Kaper-2 Patrol Craft
SG323.jpg , SG-323 Patrol Craft
StrazGran.25.5.2007-2.jpg , PZL W-3
SG325.jpg , SG-325 Patrol Craft
2006-08 Frankfurt (Oder) 09.jpg , Quad vehicle of Border Guard
SG064 PICT0084.JPG , Motorboat of Border Guard
Polish_Border_Guard_at_Polish-Russian_state_border.jpg , Land Rover Defender
EC135PBG.jpg , EC 135 (P3H)

See also

* Border Protection Corps, the border guard in the Second Polish Republic
*Border Protection Forces, the border guard in the Polish People's Republic
* Tax and Customs Service (Poland)

References

External links

Straż Graniczna Homepage in Polish

{{Authority control

Borders of Poland
Military units and formations of Poland
Polish Border Guard