The Military Gendarmerie and Its Task in Enforcing, Providing and Ensuring Order and Security in Poland and the European Union

Abstract

There are many threats to national security today. Some of them are the negative aspects of globalisation. Increasing crime in many areas (as the results of social, economic and political consequences of terrorist acts, the excessive influx of illegal immigrants – often from other cultures and civilisations), as well as threats to personal safety have forced governments to search for new methods and tools to combat and prevent various types of threats – within the area of a single country and the entirety of the EU. Given its geographical position in Europe, Poland participates naturally in a number of supranational economic, political and military structures. Preventing threats has forced institutions today to become involved in securing safety across many fields of cooperation. The inability to accurately identify security threats requires advance planning, flexibility, responsiveness and a comprehensive approach to security and defense. This includes taking various initiatives using allied and multinational militaries and non-military solutions in response to contemporary threats. Both the Polish and European Gendarmerie Forces belong to a branch of special police constituted only by elements of police forces with military status in order to perform all police tasks within the scope of crisis management operations.