National authorities

The Polish Border Guard was established on 16 May 1991. It is an armed and uniformed formation tasked with ensuring the protection of the state border on land and at sea, and organising and conducting border traffic control. Due to the powers granted, the Polish Border Guard is a police formation by nature. International agreements related to the establishment of the Schengen area make it possible to strengthen cooperation between the border protection services of the individual EU countries, starting from information exchange up to joint actions by the officers aimed against smuggling, trafficking in humans, or illegal immigration.

The Border and Foreigners Coordination Unit (UCFE) is under the authority and governance of the Secretary General as Head of the Internal Security System, which in turn, is under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister. This unit operates as the domestic coordinating centralized entity for border management. At the national level the Portuguese border management system consists of  a dual nature system, assigning the Public Security Police (PSP) to air border control and the National Guard (GNR) to sea border control.