On 28 September 2026 President Karol Nawrocki signed a decree ordering fresh deployments of Polish Armed Forces units to reinforce the Border Guard (Straż Graniczna) along Poland’s internal Schengen borders with Germany and Lithuania from 2 October 2026 until 30 March 2027. The decision follows a series of government notifications to Brussels that Poland will prolong temporary internal-border controls in response to persistent irregular migration pressure and growing hybrid-threat concerns. Since April 2026 Poland has manned spot-checks on the two frontiers, arguing that smuggling networks are exploiting loopholes left by Germany’s tighter controls and Lithuania’s overstretched resources. Warsaw’s latest extension aligns the military mission with the Schengen Borders Code notification that the Commission published this week. Under the decree, troops will help Border Guard officers with vehicle inspections, document verification and aerial surveillance in a 15-km buffer zone. They are also authorised to set up mobile checkpoints on major road and rail corridors such as the A2 motorway towards Berlin and the Via Baltica to Kaunas. The defence ministry stresses that soldiers will act under Border Guard command and may only use coercive measures in support of law-enforcement tasks. For businesses the measure means that freight and commuter traffic could face random inspections and short delays at the two crossings most used by corporate travellers—Świecko/Frankfurt-Oder and Budzisko/Kalvarija. Polish logistics association PISIL advises drivers to carry employment contracts and posting declarations; companies sending posted workers should build extra transit time into itineraries. Although internal borders remain formally open, the re-militarisation underscores Poland’s hardening migration doctrine just days before a crucial EU Council debate on the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. Companies with mobile workforces should monitor further regulatory tightening, as Warsaw signals that ad-hoc controls could stretch well into the 2027 summer tourist season.
