Ministry of National Defense against the PiS amendment. It is about the president's role in operations in the Baltic Sea

After Tuesday's debate, the Senate again referred to committee the bill extending the powers of the army and services in the Baltic Sea. Senator Wojciech Skurkiewicz (PiS) submitted an amendment regarding the President of the Republic of Poland granting consent to the use of the Polish Armed Forces to conduct permanent activities monitoring the security of the Republic of Poland.

On November 21, the Sejm passed a government act expanding the catalog of activities that can be carried out to ensure security in the Baltic Sea. The Act – dubbed “Safe Baltic” at the Ministry of National Defense – applies primarily to the activities of the Polish Armed Forces, and to some extent also of the Border Guard and Police, in the air and at sea. These include tasks related to anti-aircraft defense and monitoring of Polish territorial waters in the Baltic Sea, as well as international waters, primarily in the protection of critical infrastructure that is key to the security of the country, including the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline and drilling platforms.

Regarding operations at sea, the key provision introduced by the act is the possibility of using weapons by military units of the Navy and military aviation in defense of critical infrastructure, in self-defense or in defense of another aircraft or ship belonging to the Polish army, Border Guard or Police.. In a crisis situation, the order to open fire may be given by the commander of a given ship or aircraft, with prior consent to such action from the Operational Commander.

On Tuesday, the Senate took up the “Safe Baltic Sea” bill. The rapporteur of the Senate defense committee, Lt. Gen. Mirosław Różański (Trzecia Droga), emphasized that “the security environment is so turbulent that sometimes the applicable legal regulations are not adapted to the situations that the Polish Armed Forces, the Border Guard and those state agencies responsible for our security have to face.”

In this context, Różański drew attention to a number of aggressive, hybrid actions on the part of Russia. He assured that the regulations being processed will definitely increase our safety.

They will mean that not only the Armed Forces, but also as a country, we will be treated with a completely different approach from the Russian Federation, which will be aware that it cannot violate our airspace with impunity on the one hand, or operate in the Baltic zone in a way that threatens our interests – said Różański.

During a short discussion, Wojciech Skurkiewicz (PiS) submitted an amendment relating to the 1998 Act on the rules for the use and stay of the Polish Armed Forces outside the country.

– This amendment, in a nutshell, introduces a change to: the President of the Republic of Poland, at the request of the Council of Ministers, issued a decision consenting to the use of the Polish Armed Forces to conduct permanent operational activities to monitor the external security of the Republic of Poland or as part of a forward presence in accordance with the schedule of separate operational forces – said the PiS senator. He said this amendment “will undoubtedly improve this legislative act and make it even better.”

The deputy head of the Ministry of National Defense, Paweł Zalewski, spoke against Skurkiewicz's amendment. The deputy minister emphasized that “the president has constitutional competences and these competences are respected in this act.”

– Namely, it must issue, and without it it is absolutely impossible, consent to the use of the Polish Armed Forces, including the use of Navy ships. However, we are talking here about a stay – and this is something completely different – in the waters of the Baltic Sea. This type of thing does not require the president's consent. The president, however, will be and is informed about everything. These are his competences, which the government of the Republic of Poland respects and the obligations he keeps, said Zalewski.

Jerzy Wcisła (KO) appealed for the Senate to unanimously adopt the bill and also submitted amendments to the bill.

Due to the amendments submitted, the bill was again referred to the Senate National Defense Committee, which met on Tuesday evening. The committee decided to recommend that the Senate accept Senator Wcisła's amendments and reject Senator Skurkiewicz's amendment.

The Act extends the catalog included in the Act on the Rules of Use or Stay of the Polish Armed Forces Outside the State. The catalog of grounds for using the army abroad will include – in addition to tasks such as supporting attacked allies, participating in a peacekeeping mission or combating terrorism – a provision on the possibility of using the army abroad in “actions to strengthen the security of the Republic of Poland”.

In addition to the provisions on ensuring security in the Baltic Sea, the act also includes provisions specifying the rules for the use of weapons against enemy missiles that would enter Polish airspace. This includes: o introducing a provision allowing lower-level commanders to decide to shoot down an incoming enemy missile when such an order cannot be issued by the air defense commander on duty or, for example, he cannot be contacted. The rules for the participation of allied aviation in the tasks of patrolling and defending Polish airspace were also clarified.

Another important change proposed in the Ministry of National Defense Act is to give Navy units powers – e.g. to control foreign ships – such as those currently available to the Border Guard, “if required for reasons of national defense or security or in the case of the passage of foreign ships and warships.”

The powers of the Border Guard – e.g. detaining a given ship or forcing it to call at a specific port – are to be extended to activities related to the protection of critical infrastructure. (PAP)

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