Poland Is Drafting A Law On A "pre-war State Of Emergency"
- 16.07.2026, 20:12
The Polish Ministry of Defense is developing the new legal framework.
The Polish Ministry of Defense is developing a new legal framework—“a state of full national readiness for war”—that will allow for the preparation of the military, infrastructure, and transportation system for a potential conflict even before martial law is officially declared. This was reported to the Defence24.pl by an advisor to the Minister of Defense Maciej Samsonowicz. According to him, the new legal framework is intended to bridge the existing gap between the state’s peacetime operations and martial law. Above all, it will allow for the early initiation of procedures related to troop redeployment, infrastructure preparation, and the reception of allied forces. “We are also working on this. I don’t want to go into details. ‘The state’s state of full readiness for war’—that’s what it’s called in the draft,” said Samsonowicz, noting that the document is currently undergoing internal review.
At the same time, the Ministry of Defense is drafting a law on investments that are critical to defense capability, military mobility, and the redeployment of troops. According to Samsonovich, work on this document has already progressed significantly. One of the main focuses will be clarifying the authorities related to the movement of troops: in the event of a sharp increase in the threat, the armed forces must be granted additional capabilities to manage the movement of military convoys and coordinate transport even before hostilities begin. According to the minister’s advisor, current regulations do not adequately address situations where war is approaching the country’s borders but a state of emergency has not yet been declared. The new legal status will allow government agencies, the military, and strategic infrastructure facilities to transition more quickly to a state of full readiness.
The new regulations will also affect the implementation of defense infrastructure projects—the construction of roads, rail lines, ports, airports, fuel depots, pipelines, and logistics terminals necessary for receiving and supporting NATO forces. “We cannot wait a year and a half—or two or three years under normal circumstances—to build anything,” Samsonovich emphasized. According to him, the changes should streamline administrative and environmental procedures, which currently have the potential to delay the implementation of projects critical to security for years.
The bill is also planned to be linked to a pan-European initiative on the development of military mobility (“military Schengen”). Poland hopes to attract European funding to modernize dual-use transportation infrastructure in order to expedite the reception of allied forces and provide them with fuel, supplies, logistics, and equipment repair capabilities. Currently, the bill remains in the inter-agency review stage; the timeline for its submission to the government and the Sejm has not yet been determined.