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PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHVK
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DE RUEHWR #2399/01 3531622
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191622Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY WARSAW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5665
INFO RUCNEEC/EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES  PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 WARSAW 002399 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PBTS PREL PREF SMIG PGOV EU PL
SUBJECT: POLAND'S ENTRY INTO THE SCHENGEN ZONE 
 
REF: WARSAW 002337 
 
 ------------ 
Summary 
------------ 
¶1. On December 21, 2007, Poland will join the European 
Union's Schengen area along with seven other Central European 
nations and Malta. After months of preparation and 
coordination with other EU members, Poland is ready to enter 
the Schengen zone and, with its 1185 km eastern frontier, 
defend the longest EU external border. Embassy Warsaw had the 
opportunity to discuss their accession with EU member state 
representatives and various government officials. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Poland ---a Member of Schengen Zone 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
¶2. Once Poland enters the Schengen area on December 21, land 
and water border checks from Poland to other Schengen 
countries will be abolished. (Note: At the airports, 
passports checks will continue until March 2008.) Named after 
a small village in Luxembourg where it was signed in 1985, 
the Schengen Agreement also includes provisions to establish 
common policies on the temporary entry of persons (i.e. 
Schengen visa), the harmonization of external border controls 
and cross-border police cooperation. While the Government of 
Poland (GOP) will continue to combat smuggling and illegal 
immigration, the border police will now work in mobile units 
throughout the country instead of just on the actual border. 
The Polish border patrol has said it will also be responsible 
for fighting drug trafficking and the illegal removal of 
cultural relics from the country. 
 
------------------------------- 
Preparations for Schengen 
-------------------------------- 
¶3. After months of preparation, Poland is ready to enter the 
Schengen zone. According to the Minister of Interior Grzegorz 
Schetyna, who praised the pre-accession efforts of his 
predecessor, Poland is in fact better prepared to operate 
within the zone than some current Schengen members.  The new 
Schengen countries - the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, 
Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Slovakia, Slovenia and Poland - all 
had to undergo numerous assessments of their readiness and 
adapt their infrastructure to meet EU requirements. During 
the last two years, Poland has hosted six EU evaluation 
missions, two of which were airport assessments. The GOP 
developed an accession plan based on their experience, the 
advice of other EU members already in the Schengen area, and 
the input of the EU assessment teams. Some of the reform 
suggestions included language training for officers, computer 
infrastructure development, mobile teams and new equipment 
for green borders. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Costs and New Investments 
--------------------------------- 
¶4. To date, 1.5 billion PLN (approx. USD 600 million) has 
been spent on "fortifying Poland's borders" for Schengen, 
including modernization of external border controls, 
acquisition of specialized equipment and provision of border 
guard and police training, with significant funding from EU 
resources. Norway and Switzerland also provided separate 
bilateral assistance. Border Guard (BG) Headquarters staff 
stressed that the GOP was required to fund at least 20% of 
all projects, even those funded by the EU.  Most of these 
funds went towards the purchase of specialized equipment to 
include: a radar system for the Polish maritime border, 
surveillance vehicles, mobile/hand-held systems and thermal 
cameras for the land borders. The replacement of out-dated 
equipment such as computer equipment continues. 
 
--------------------------------- 
SIS Shared Database System 
---------------------------------- 
¶5. According to Ministry of Interior officials, the main 
problems with Poland,s Schengen accession were not related 
to physical control of the borders, but rather the 
integration and upgrading of Poland,s computer systems. The 
Schengen Information System (SIS) is a security database 
system operated by members of the Schengen zone. SIS I is the 
initial version of the system in use since the inception of 
the Schengen zone. All Schengen countries contribute data to 
the system through their national databases to facilitate 
cooperation between police forces in the fight against 
terrorism, organized crime, illegal immigration and human 
smuggling. SIS stores information on wanted and missing 
persons and other persons barred from entering or staying in 
the zone. It also contains data on stolen goods, firearms, 
and documents. 
 
¶6. The SIS II is a more sophisticated version of the system 
 
WARSAW 00002399  002 OF 003 
 
 
which will feature biometric data. Although originally 
planned for 2008, all countries are now expected to be 
connected to the system by 2009. "SISone4all" is a compromise 
information system that was proposed when it became clear 
that the introduction of SIS II would be delayed.  SISone4all 
is an updated version of SIS I, which facilitates the 
connection of new members states before the eventual launch 
of SIS II.  The SIS system has been operating in Poland since 
September 3, 2007. Col. Roman Lubinski, Director of the 
Border Trafficking Department, BG Headquarters, praised the 
effectiveness of the system. Between September 3 and December 
2, the BG stopped 4190 persons at border crossings and 352 
inside the country with the use of the SIS system. These 
numbers include persons with EU Arrest Warrants or those 
barred from entering the Schengen zone. 
 
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Changes 
----------- 
¶8. Scrapping stationary border control points and passport 
checks at land and sea borders with fellow Schengen members 
will not weaken Poland,s security situation; instead, other 
security checks will be introduced. To improve operations, 
the current Polish border patrol has expanded the number and 
activity of its mobile patrols. Their range of operations has 
been expanded to include regions beyond the border area and 
throughout the whole territory of Poland. Mobile patrols will 
conduct inspections and random checks to investigate whether 
certain individuals are registered as "wanted" within the EU. 
 
 
¶9. Poland is aware that appropriate BG training is essential, 
since they will be responsible for guaranteeing that the EU's 
longest external border remains impermeable. There is an 
ongoing training for border guard officers on the SIS system 
which all entry-level officers arriving at the BG Training 
Academy receive.  For those already in the BG, officers are 
trained under the train-the-trainer system. In addition, many 
officers are now receiving English language training, keeping 
in mind that Russian is still the key language for officers 
working on Poland's eastern border. 
 
¶10. While in some neighboring EU states such as Germany, 
police and customs officers voiced their opposition to job 
cuts, Director Lubinski confirmed that no BG officers will be 
dismissed due to the removal of internal EU borders - nor 
will there be wholesale transfers to the eastern borders. 
Rather, the officers previously working on the internal 
borders will be given new roles, including as part of the 
mobile patrols. (NOTE: There are currently 17,000 officers 
and 4,000 civilians working for the BG.  END NOTE) 
 
------------------------------- 
Eastern External Borders 
------------------------------- 
¶11. Poland borders two countries to the east, Belarus and 
Ukraine, neither one a member of Schengen or the EU.  Border 
inspections will be carried out as previously, although 
centers have been relocated at certain border crossings. 
Until recently, many of Poland,s border crossing stations 
with Ukraine and Belarus were co-located on the territory of 
one country, and often not on Polish territory. EU border 
control officials concluded that such a situation could be 
problematic, for example in attempting to enforce an EU 
arrest warrant for a Ukrainian citizen caught at a Polish 
border crossing station located on Ukrainian territory - 
where neither Poland nor the EU has jurisdiction.  Therefore, 
the Polish BG has agreed to move all Polish border control 
checkpoints onto Polish territory. Security measures on the 
"green borders" have also undergone significant changes to 
further reduce illegal activity. The GOP has set up 
checkpoints every 20 km to monitor its eastern border and 
built high-tech frontier surveillance centers where officers 
monitor multiple plasma screens relaying pictures from 
thermal imaging cameras along the length of the border. 
 
 --------------------------------- 
Illegal Migrants and Refugees 
----------------------------------- 
¶12. According to BG data, between January and November 2007, 
there were almost 3,000 "border crimes" committed by illegal 
migrants at the Polish border. The majority of these came 
from Ukraine, and according to Director Lubinski, the 
Polish-Ukrainian border is a major concern for the Polish BG. 
The BG is not expecting a significant change in the number of 
legitimate asylum seekers (including potential refugees) to 
Poland: they consider the rise in numbers from the previous 
year to be a temporary phenomenon before Schengen accession. 
The BG is, however, getting ready for an increase in illegal 
migrants, and has just opened four deportation/holding 
centers for illegal migrants. 
 
 
WARSAW 00002399  003 OF 003 
 
 
¶13. As reported in reftel, Poland,s Schengen accession will 
present problems for the hundreds of AmCits who currently, 
live, work and study in Poland without paper residence 
permits. 
 
---------- 
Frontex 
---------- 
¶14. Frontex, the EU agency tasked with coordinating 
operational cooperation between EU member states in the field 
of border security, established its headquarters in Warsaw in 
October 2005. At this point, cooperation between Poland and 
Frontex mostly consists of instructor exchanges, sharing of 
information and experiences and a limited number of joint 
exercises with neighbors. Poland hopes that Frontex's budget 
and staff increase for 2008 will positively impact 
cooperation between Frontex and Poland and the number of 
exchanges will increase. 
 
----------- 
Comment 
------------ 
¶15. The GOP has shown very strong political support across 
the board for the Schengen accession. In addition, the Polish 
Border Guard enjoys a very strong reputation for efficiency 
and professionalism among EU and European counterparts, as 
well as U.S. law enforcement agencies. While frontier posts 
are being torn down within the new Schengen zone and controls 
are being dramatically enhanced at its eastern edge, it is 
difficult for the GOP to completely assess the possible 
challenges that will come with their new responsibility. 
HILLAS