Border
traffic
has been increasing
since the beginning of the 90’s and the
open
borders, apart from undeniable positive sides, have contributed
to the appearance of new threats. It was necessary to take
decisive steps in order to counteract the organised gangs of
criminals, the smuggling of drugs
and
weapons, and above all, the increasing wave of
illegal migration.
Society
demanded that these dangerous phenomena be put to a stop. Only a
modern service of a police type could manage this.
The Polish Border Guard constitutes nowadays a
uniform, well-armed and perfectly equipped unit. It has
the highest quality
means of communication of
and
reliable transport equipment at its disposal.
All the border crossings are combined into a
uniform tele-informatic system. Cars, airplanes and helicopters
are equipped with thermal-imaging devices and night vision
devices, which allow a section of the border to be protected
in all
conditions and
at any time, and in the
border control process,
equipment,
which not long ago could be seen only in
laboratories,
is
used to detect forgeries. The professional staff,
devoted to their work for the country, are fully prepared to
carry out official tasks.
Poland takes care of one of the
longest external borders of the European Union.
It is
certainly
not easy to protect a 1100-kilometer section of land borders.
The preparations for this task have lasted for a very long time.
New watchtowers
were
built in the East
and
most people and equipment are
posted
at these
locations.
Within the next years the Boarder Guard will employ almost 5600
officers, who will strengthen the Eastern border. Also the
personnel at
airports will be more numerous. This will
contribute to a more effective control, but above all, it will
increase the security in the international air traffic.
Already
even now,
the Border Guard deserves
its
trust and may accept
responsibility for the security of the external
border of the EU.
In spite of the accession to the European Union,
Poland will maintain control of
its
internal border for some time. Such a state will
last until the time of our full membership
under
the Treaty of Schengen.
Even after
that, the full opening of the internal borders
will not cause the Border Guard to disappear from the landscape
of our Southern and Western border. The units, which will
remain, will not be so numerous, but they will conduct random,
temporary inspections along the communication routes. They will
have to be ready in case there was
ever
a necessity to reintroduce controls at our border
for a specific period of time. Such possibilities are provided
for
in the Treaty of Schengen. At present, a similar
situation exists in the
other
member states of the EU.
The border control will remain at the airports,
because travellers from
all
different corners of the world arrive there.
Source: Publications of the
Silesian Unit of Border Guard (among others)
