The Polish Border Guard employs nearly 17,000 officers and around 3,500 civilian staff, tasked with protecting more than 3,500 kilometers of national frontiers on land, at sea and at airports. The service in its current form was set up 35 years ago. Anniversary events are being held in the eastern city of Lublin. The Border Guard service has taken on heightened importance since 2021, when Poland began facing sustained migration pressure on its border with Belarus. Warsaw and its allies have described this as a hybrid operation by Minsk and Moscow. On Friday, Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced new funding for helicopters and anti-drone systems for border guards.