Topics of coins
30th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Polish Border Guard

The Polish Border Guard is a uniformed and armed
service established to protect the Polish border. It was
first deployed on 16 May 1991. For 30 years this day
has been celebrated as a holiday of all the officers and
employees of the Polish Border Guard.
While performing its duties, the Polish Border Guard
follows the glorious traditions of the border formations
created after Poland had regained its independence in
1918. With particular respect it cultivates the traditions
of the Border Protection Corps (1924-1939), a special
military organisation created to provide protection
against Soviet sabotage in the Eastern Borderlands, and
the Border Guard (1928-1939), a semi-military formation
operating on the western border, whose officers risked
their lives combating smuggling during the Polish-
German tariff war. On 1 September 1939, the soldiers
of the Border Guard were the first to fight against the
German invaders, while on 17 September the soldiers
of the Border Protection Corps were the first line of
Poland’s defence against the Soviet aggressor.
The contemporary Polish Border Guard is a centralized
administrative body within the Ministry of the Interior
and Administration. Its tasks include the protection of
the state border both on land and at sea, organizing
and conducting checks at border crossing points,
preventing and counteracting illegal migration
(e.g. by verifying compliance with the rules of entry
and stay of foreigners), and detection and prosecution
of perpetrators of crimes related to border crossing
(e.g. those involving explosives, arms and ammunition,
drugs and narcotics, and works of art). The Polish
Border Guard ensures safety of international transport,
cooperates with authorised bodies and services in the
domain of terrorist threat detection and performs tasks
arising from the regulations of the European Union
law and international agreements.
The Polish Border Guard is the only armed service
authorised to protect directly the 3,511 km long Polish
border (including 440 km of sea border), of which as much
as 1,581 km is the external border of the European Union.
The officers also perform migration duties and combat
organised smuggling across the entire territory of Poland.
Service in the Polish Border Guard is voluntary. It can
be done by adults, exclusively of Polish citizenship, with
good reputation, with no criminal record, enjoying full
public rights, having physical and mental capacity to serve
in the armed forces, subject to special discipline and also
providing a guarantee of confidentiality. Each officer of the
Polish Border Guard solemnly swears “to serve the Polish
Nation faithfully, always taking into account the interest
of the State of Poland” and “to guard with determination the independence and sovereignty of the Republic
of Poland and to secure the inviolability of the State
border, even at the risk of life”.
As at 31 January 2022, 14,814 officers served in the
Polish Border Guard, including 4,375 (29.5%) women.
The vast majority of officers perform their duties in
direct border protection or border traffic control.
Polish Border Guard Major, Artur Ochał, PhD