Operations of the Polish Armed Forces during the ongoing crisis

The military is one of the foundations of state security. In the Polish legal order, in accordance with many laws, such as the Act on State of Emergency or the Police Act, it is the last-resort tool of the state to protect internal security. As the crisis on the Polish–Belarusian border in July 2021 escalated, troops and subdivisions of the Polish Armed Forces were sent to assist the Border Guard. Soldiers, in particular those from 16th and 18th Mechanized Divisions and from the Territorial Defence Forces, were assigned a number of policing and reconnaissance tasks. The clearly defined tasks of soldiers, however, lacked a clear and publicly available legal basis for their actions.