History of Romanian Border Police
Historical testimonies undoubtedly show that the institution of border protection has existed since ancient times, knowing a series of transformations and refinements until it reached the current organizational structure. Regardless of the form of organization and name -footpaths, borderers, horsemen, , border guards, border policemen, etc - the content of the missions has always been the same, with certain particularities, depending on the character of the existing historical period: during peace guarding the borders, preventing illegal activities for the internal security, starting from the border, the external interests of the country, and, during war, the participation, together with the other combatant forces, in the fight for the defense of the ancestral land.
This institution is as old as the territories in which our ancestors settled and lived, manifesting according to the historical period in which they existed and fulfilling the missions according to the interests of the moment.
The Thracians set up positions on the dominant heights to signal the appearance of invaders, using as a means of warning especially the fire. At the crossroads, the products of foreign merchants who maintained commercial exchanges with the natives were custom checked.
During Decebal, the main routes of communication were strengthened with fortresses provided with defense ditches, dirt banks and wooden and stone fences. The measures taken by the wise dacian leader Decebal are appreciated by General Targe in his work "La garde de nos frontieres" (1930), a work that distinctly treats the way and the procedures that this activity must use. In roman Dacia, the border guard consists of a system of fortifications, castles and camps located on the border.
After the emergence of the Romanian feudal states and the revival of the economic exchanges with the surrounding countries: Russia, Poland, Hungary, Austria, there was a more constant concern for ensuring the roads of commerce, the application of the customs system, the defense of customs points and the prevention of clandestine trade.
For a long time, the system of guarding and defending the borders was the responsibility of the cities on the edge. In the first years of his reign, Mircea cel Batran built a fortress in Giurgiu, where he placed "watchers to watch over everything that happens beyond the water" and one in Turnu, built on the ruins of a much older city.
Also, Stefan cel Mare, organizing the Moldovan army, set up the " marginasii" " who, placed on the outskirts of the country, had a duty "to inform when the country was threatened with invasions from abroad". During Mihai Viteazul there were, on this line, the "flags of riders" (border riders), placed in the border localities. The great historian Constantin Giurescu, regarding the organization and arrangement of customs points, stated that they were customs points at or near the border, so at the entry of goods into the country, and customs points inside, in the cities and fairs more important, in the first row, obviously in the respective capitals (eg: Braila, Giurgiu, Turnu, Calafat, Severin, Tighina, the White Fortress, Tecuci, Putna, Trotus, Moldovita). About the year 1690, the ruler Constantin Brancoveanu, also in the Romanian Country, establishes a distinct body of borders - "martologii" - which, together with the plagues of 230 villages and parts of villages, ensured the crossing of the Danube and the mountain.
After the Kuciuk-Kainargi peace (1774), small patrol vessels appear in the Danube guard service. A royal anaphor addressed to the villagers from the frontiers, from this era, demonstrates the seriousness with which the central authority treats the border guard service: "the nizam (guard) of the navy and of the country's entrances is one of the most important and first of all our duty. our day and night is forced to be well guarded ... on all roads, big and small, and on every path you have full paths ... ". Also now, due to internal considerations, a rigorous regulation of the crossings was made, introducing, for the first time, the passport (1782).
As for the security system in Transylvania, it has evolved somewhat differently due to the fact that it was under foreign domination. Besides the specific missions, those from the frontiers also had tasks of blocking the departure of some poor Romanian groups beyond the Carpathians. In this sense, by 1690, the first regiments of Austrian border guards were established along the Tisza and Mures rivers, which marked the border of the Habsburg Empire.
Under the pressure of the events, the imperial authorities were forced to move to the creation of regiments among the Romanian population, although with great caution and taking care to prevent as much as possible the access of the Romanians to the management positions. On March 12, 1761, General Nikolaus Adolf, Baron of Buccow, the new commander of the Transylvanian military forces, was entrusted with the mission of pacifying the Romanians and establishing the military border. In this regard, the Decree of April 15, 1762 gave the "green wave" of the start of the recruitment campaign, first of all from the Hungarians of Ciucului Chair, from Nasaud, which was opposed, as was the case of the Szeklers of Odorhei, under the command of their judge Daniel.
In February 1763, a new attempt was made by the so-called "Points known in Orastie", in which the state of the military in the border regiments was better regulated, but by which stipulations and harsh penalties were imposed for the security guards of the borders. On May 10, 1763, on the occasion of the Pledge by 9 companies of the 2 Border Regiment, in formation, the great revolt took place in Salva, from the plateau that remained in history under the name of "Mocirla". At the hearing of the oath they were to take, which would have forced them to fight for the empire outside the borders, the Romanian border soldiers threw their weapons and then raised them against the Austrian commanders. Although the revolt was suppressed and the "heads" killed or severely punished, the empress Maria Teresa was forced to issue, on March 16, 1764, a patent stating that the border guards will not be taken from the country in distant lands, except in exceptional cases. It is also specified that the Romanians can become officers, non-commissioned officers or top leaders of the border units and will receive the balance, including in time of peace. Within a few months, more precisely on August 15, 1764, the entire force (over 3,000 people) of the 2 Border Regiment took the Oath. In 1765 the constitution of the second regiment - the 1st Border Regiment - was completed.
The points from Orastie represent an ordinance preceding the Decree of November 13, 1766 of Maria Teresa, which establishes the status of definitive organization of the two Romanian regiments, a regulation that was printed in Romanian. The "points" indicated the advantages enjoyed by the soldiers who were part of the regiments: exemption from taxes, except for the tax on the head and goods (tax on cattle). At the same time, although they paid the tithing as the rest of the population, the "frontiersmen" were exempt from sowing, tax on wine and fan. In addition, those enlisted in regiments were under the jurisdiction of the military authorities, while the Romanian civilian population was dependent on the nobility seats. The military could not trade cattle or hold quarries. Those who violated these "orders" were punished with arrest. The military, like the rest of the population, were not allowed to cut wood or hunt in the "stopped forests". Some fighters for the rights of the Romanians, such as Grigore Maior, took advantage of the situation, conditioning the establishment of the "Romanian militias" to satisfy some demands of the Romanians. He tried to impose on the command of the Romanian commander regiments, which contravened the intentions of the imperial authorities, who were to promote foreigners to defend their interests. The military were required to maintain peaceful relations with the "provincial". In the case of misconduct and if they were guilty, they were punished with the beating of the flocks. In the case of dissensions between the border, they were resolved at the level of the battalion or regiment orders.
With all these restrictions and obligations that were subjected to the military, there was an exodus to enlistment, because this meant a relief of the material situation of the peasants, the release of the tasks. The emergence of the two border regiments in Transylvania represents a step forward and along the lines of the creation of military states, which will be used in the actions of emancipation of the Romanian people.
We mention that, in 1768, another Romanian regiment of border guards was established in Caransebes.
In the border status, it was stipulated that "the border guards will be removed from the country and taken to distant lands only when required." As the needs of the empire, at that time, were multiple, the frontiersmen were often forced to fight for the defense of their interests and other lands, during the secession of Bavaria, when Joseph II, the son of Maria Theresa, entered with troops in Lower Bavaria, when Frederick II invaded the Czech Republic and Silesia (1778), during the war with the Turks (1788). In the battles with the Turks (1788-1791), only the 2 Ranger Regiment lost 1218 soldiers. The frontiersmen also suffered heavy losses in the battles at Zabern, on the Rhine front. In the Campaign from 1793 to 1796, 122 soldiers were killed in a single Romanian battalion, 761 were wounded and another 94 were taken prisoners.
In the war between France and Austria, from 1796 to 1797, two battalions of soldiers of three companies each, from two Romanian regiments - 32 officers and 1880 soldiers, participated. Later, in the battles in Italy, others were added. About the heroism of a battalion of Romanian frontiersmen, the chroniclers say that Napoleon stated that "if he had disposed of such a battalion he would have arrived in Vienna in three days." In the battle for the conquest of the Arcole Bridge, in the Areda of Venice, defended by a Romanian battalion, the opposition was so strong that Napoleon himself, who had taken command of the hostilities, fell into the swamp and was saved with great weight. Needless to say, the participation of border guards beyond and beyond the Carpathians in the events of 1821 and 1848, during the War of Independence, during the two world wars, etc.
At the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth, some mutations appear in the organizational structure of the servants at the border. Thus, in the Romanian Country, Constantin Mavrocordat establishes the "Body of Border Servants", some called "focsanlai" to Moldova and others "martologists" to Oltenia. Then, along the Danube, between Varciorova and Braila, three regiments (polcuri) have the task both of signaling the passage of unwanted people in the country, as well as of preventing the transmission of contagious diseases from the East to the center of Europe, within this framework. the so-called "quarantine cordon" (today, as it is known, the Romanian Border Police prevent and combat illegal migration, especially to the West).
Important changes knew the border institution after the Treaty of Adrianople (1829), when the Romanian Countries were able to create their own armies - the earthly national militias. According to the provisions of the Organic Regulation, the duties of the new hostage consist mainly of "guarding the borders, quarantine and customs, the health cord, the service within, the service of cities and counties, the working gaze for the fulfillment of the duties ...". The total number of militia personnel was 4,673 people. A special significance for the future evolution of the system of control of crossings across the border had the provisions of the Regulation for Quarantine, contained in Chapter VI in the Organic Regulation of the Romanian Country, implemented on July 1, 1831. In view of this document the purpose of establishing Quarantine was to guard Valahia from the whip of the sickness of the plague: "thus, the boundary on the left side of the Danube will be laid on a cord of unbroken health". He was guarded by the militia all over the Danube from the Romanian Country, from the Austrian border to the release of Siret in the Danube, and the number of the military for the guard was 1,466 people, of which 1,122 pedestrians and 344 riders. According to art. 196, any traveler who came to the quarantine was indebted, if he was European, to show his passport, and if he was a resident after the Danube, he had to have "the registration of the local governors, as they have always been." Those who entered Wallachia and were armed, according to art. 199, for the purpose of crossing the health cordon they were indebted to leave their weapons at the Quarantine chancellery until they returned.
The command of the Divania of the Principality of Wallachia from December 16, 1829 to the inhabitants of the country spoke about the abolition of the internal customs, about the freedom of trade within the country and about establishing a 3% import and export customs. Gradually, then, the border system improves, establishing sectors of responsibility, new rules and procedures for executing the guard, of control depending on the specifics of the borders (mountain, water). At the same time, military uniforms with a Romanian specific appear.
In 1834, during the Organic Regulation, the Border Corps was set up for the first time in Muntenia, drawing up "The project on the Danube and border guard from Austria and Moldova". The border guard was made in the most important points by the permanent Oastea, and in the secondary points, both on the Danube line and on the mountain border and on Moldova by Cordonasi (on the Danube), Potecasi or Pichetasi (on the mountain) and which were taken from the people of the villages near the border. 120 families competed for guarding a secondary point. Each village had to permanently have a goat, four armed men and a vaslas, with their clothes and food. The food was provided by the villagers, in money, counting 20 parales per day for each bone. This state lasted until 1850 when the "Law for the Organization of Borders" takes over the border guard and gives the villages. The law established that 120 families have four picks to guard. The pickets from the Danube had 22 people, those from the border with Austria each 14, and those from Moldova 7 people. The guard was made in two shifts, one a week.
In total, on the Danube border there were 222 pickets, on the border with Austria 154, and to Moldova 103, for them 7,761 border guards were needed.
Another important moment in the evolution of the institution is the one from 1850, when Barbu Dimitrie Stirbei "Lord ruler of the whole Romanian Country" gave "Legionirea granite" no. 129/14 July 1850 for the Border Organization, voted by Divan on July 23, 1850, a kind of regulation (in Cyrillic language), which establishes the way of ensuring the guarding and control of the borders, the staffing, the number of pickets (222 on the Danube, 154 on the border with Austria and 103 on the border of Moldova) and the people who composed them, on each side of the border (4,484 on the Danube line, 2156 on the border with Austria, 721 with Moldova, out of a total of 7361 persons), confirming the appearance of the border guards weapon. It also provided for the way in which the pickets with weapons and ammunition had to be equipped, for keeping the evidence and for paying the personnel. It is worth mentioning that there is a note that states: "the border border with Moldova lacking the organization need that in the other, even more, the pickets on the dance can be canceled in time ... and the soldiers will be sent to other places" (an anticipation of the Union of the two Principalities).
Legislation no.129 of July 14, 1850 for the Organization of Borders has made some modifications and completions regarding the "General rules for border guarding". Interesting to mention is the provision from art. 7, which stipulated that "no one of the picket guards shall be employed for any other job than for the guard for which he shall answer the command."
Command no. 6 of January 10, 1852 of the Prince of the Romanian Country, Barbu Dimitrie Stirbei to the chief of Ostirii stipulated, among others, that "the guarding of the borders of the principality on the mountain and on the Danube is entrusted to the orders of border guards and all the police of these borders to the commanding officers, each sub shall be responsible with complete power at that point ". The point commander kept in mind that through the point "no merchandise should enter or exit in secret except through legion points; the letters found on travelers and reading books are broken; the commanders will put a great responsibility on the customs officers not to let any of them enter at any chance. For the Lipitans and horned cattle the commanders will entrust themselves to the free passage of counting and weighing ". The point commander was watching over all the servants in the scaffold to deal with the passengers with all kindness and without any oppression, giving himself the example of good behavior gentle and full with all the passengers, to the smallest.
The model from the Romanian Country is taken over, four years later, in Moldova.
The unification of the Romanian Principalities from 1859 also brought changes regarding the structure of the border, in the sense of merging the two administrations into one. By the Decree no. 485 from July 10, 1862, the Milcov border between the two Romanian states was abolished. The High Royal Decree number 893/24 July 1864 of the ruler Alexandru Ioan Cuza provided for the organization of the Moldovan border workers according to the model in the Romanian Country and the union of the two border bodies. The body of the border guards, from beyond and beyond Milcov, unified, was an integral part of the army, being under the direct authority of the Ministry of War. It was organized by four Inspectors: Bucharest, Iasi, Piatra-Neamt and Pitesti, structured in ten battalions, each with three or four companies. We mentioned that in the letter of the ruler Alexandru Ioan Cuza, sent on October 1, 1865 to Napoleon III, the emperor of France, talking about the progress Romania had made in the military field, it stated that it had 12,000 border guards.
After the Union of the Principalities (1859), the Border Corps continued to remain with the same organization until 1864, when 15 border companies were established in Moldova and the total organization of the border workers from all over the country was made. This organization comprised four inspectors, each with 2-4 battalions of 4 companies.
The frontiersmen, no matter how they were called, were doing the frontier service one by one, a third of their time being in service and 2/3 at their homes. They were not chosen by lot but by age and only within an area of 30 kilometers from the border inland.
A moment of chosen significance, not only for the frontiersmen but also for the whole hostage, represented the solemnity from September 1, 1863, from the Cotroceni plateau, for the awarding of the new flags of the military units.
They wore the three colors introduced after the proclamation of the Union, red, yellow and blue, as well as the inscription "Honor and homeland". The border guards were given two flags: one to the Danube Cord, another to the Mountain Cord.
In 1866, the inspectors of border guards and dorobanti are abolished and the battalions and four territorial divisions are organized and the border points are numbered.
By Regulation no. 1943 from December 22, 1869, on the service of the border guards is granted a first organizational and functional framework for the border guards weapon. By the Decision of the Ministry of War no. 57 of August 13, 1870, a clearer delimitation of the main and secondary border points is made in order to improve the classification, depending on the importance and difficulty.
Subsequently, the activity at the border, depending on the situation and the problems that appeared, was regulated by various Decisions and Orders of the Ministers of Defense and Interior, creating or abolishing various border points.
Between 1869 and 1872, the Border Patrol Institution undergoes other transformations, as a result of the evolution of the military system in Romania, further increasing the influence of the military element, when the reservists are replaced with active military. According to the "Law on the organization of the armed power" from June 11 to 23, 1868, the border guards were part of the bodies of the supporters and the border guards and depended directly on the supreme commander - ruler of Romania.
In March 1872, by amending the "Law on the Organization of Armed Forces of 1868", the Boundaries are abolished as a separate body structure, entering the Common Law and being part of the rudder regiments, their frontiers being guarded by them. It is the period in which the border area is established 30 km from the border inland, where the companies from regiments established by nominal decision were fulfilled. The "armor", clothing and ammunition were given to the state by the donors, and the counties were obliged to build the necessary barracks. Later, until 1904, the guard was carried out by the infantry units.
Between 1878-1904 there are several changes in the evolution of the border institution and of the legislation, due both to the institutional evolution (in 1880 - the passers-by are transferred to the territorial troops), as well as to the effects of the War of Independence of 1877. By the law of organization of the army from 1881 the regiments of dorobanti merged with those of the infantry, and after this date they had no attributions on the line of ensuring public order and state security, the control of the travel documents being carried out by the customs reviewers, the chiefs of the border stations and the special commissioners of the CFR stations.
On April 1, 1903, the Law on the organization of the General Police of the State promulgated by the Royal Decree no. 1330, preceded by the speech of the Interior Minister Vasile Lascar, speaking at the Senate meeting on January 25, in which he notes that "a considerable number of foreigners have crossed our border without control ..." and a Border Police is required. At a 2000 km border, in 1903, there were 75 passers-by, of whom 14 were police officers, in fact one agent who was on permanent duty day and night. "It's a real joke ..." - remarks in that meeting Minister Vasile Lascar.
The High Decree no. 760 of March 3, 1904, establishing the body of border guards, establishes that this, besides the mission of guarding and border surveillance, also had duties of police and police. By Royal Decree no. 1187 of March 31, 1904 regarding the Regulation on the police service at the border points in ports and stations, the functional and relational organizational bases of the Border Police were laid. On April 1, 1904, through the High Decree no. 884, the Border Corps changed its name into the "Border Battalion"
Other changes appear in the years 1906 (on September 1, 1906, by the High Decree no. 3178 the first Regulation of the border service was implemented, which established the operating conditions of the border guard service and introduced the green - dark color. instead of blue On April 1, 1907, the border guards received the guard of the Chilia Arm and the Black Sea coast, which were made by the Military Navy. On April 1, 1910, for guarding the Danube and various water transports, it was created within The Border Corps a company of navy border guards, which had received from the Military Navy the "Fulgerul" war ship, four boats - Vedea, Arges, Trotus, Teleorman -, the ship "Prutul" and four car boats - A, B, C, D; - the residence was in Galati), 1912, 1913 (in 1913 the conditions for the recruitment of young people for frontiers provided: to be Romanian, to be robust, to have a height of at least 1.65 m, to know a book, that is to read, to write and count) and 1915.
On February 26, 1915 the Law of the Borders was promulgated, which, under "General Provisions", provides:
Art. 1 "Guard Corps" is established for the guarding and surveillance of the border of the Kingdom. The Border Corps is an integral part of the army; the general provisions of the Military Laws and Regulations are applicable except for the exceptions required by the nature of his service.
Art. 2 As far as the enforcement of the customs laws of the State and Administrative monopolies is concerned, the Border Corps is under the orders of the Ministry of Finance, and as a discipline, preparation of war and border guard military is under the direct orders of the Ministry of War
The year 1919 found the border institution in a new position: the organization of the border guard of Greater Romania. The realization of the centuries-old dream of the Romanians has implicitly and profoundly reorganized the border guards.
A special importance on the line of popularizing the activities from the terminals had the appearance, starting with April 1, 1920, of the first magazine of the institution, under the name of "Border Review" and under the guidance of General Toma Liscu, the commander of the Border Corps at that time. Later, this publication had other names: Word of the Borders, In the service of the Fatherland, On watch, the Border, Frontier, and in certain periods its activity was interrupted. However, it has always remained, regardless of the periods crossed by the Romanian society, a central publication of those at the border, today of the border police, contributing to the professional training of the staff, to maintaining and developing the spirit of body and initiative.
Between 1919 and 1940, the Bailiff Corps was reorganized in several rows by brigades, regiments and companies, the number of brigades and regiments being initially one, respectively three, reaching, in 1935, four, respectively eight large units and units. Also during this period was established the Group of Border Ships, with boats and auxiliary boats.
Other changes and reorganizations, as will be seen later, took place under the conditions of territorial amputations and World War II, and as a result of the installation of the new political regime in Romania, in 1944.
Regarding the organization and control in the Border Crossing Points, by Decision no. 8571 of April 1, 1903, the Minister of the Interior Vasile Lascar, under the Law of Police and Law no. 1385 of April 18, 1892 for the organization of the central administration service of the Ministry of Interior, ordered the organization of the General administration of personnel and general security in two services, namely the General and Contentious Administration Service and the General Police and Statistics Service. The latter were fixed, between attributions, the Law on aliens and the Regulation for free pass tickets on Expulsions; extradition; Dismissal of vagrants and unsuccessful people; International Arrangements and Conventions; Border police; Passport issuance control; Exemption of visas and any issues related to passports and national and foreign travel documents etc. According to the "Law on the organization of the General Police of the State" of April 1, 1903, "the activity at the border comes within the competence of the police officers who act in areas where problems of this nature also occur".
They had to signal and take the necessary measures in cases of plots against state security, surveillance of border crossing points, execution of expulsions, regulation of entry and residence of foreigners in the country, for the application of law and regulations. . In 1908, a new law better regulated the activity of the institution regarding the control of border crossings, stipulating that the Police at the Border Points and ports is under the direct management of the Minister of Interior, who exercises it through the Director of Police and General Security. The right of control and discipline passed to this director regarding the police personnel from the border and port points.
A circular of the Minister of Internal Affairs of June 18, 1903, addressed to the prefects of counties and prefectures of police in Bucharest and Iasi, outlined the existing deficiencies in the system of guarding and surveillance of the borders and the measures that had to be taken for their liquidation:
".. So far, who has wanted to enter the country, where he wanted, without worrying too much about where they come from, who they come from and where they are going. This state of affairs constitutes a manifest danger to the internal order and security of the state. It cannot therefore be tolerated, so please have a special focus on the execution of the police service at the border points, whether this service is to be performed by special police officers, or whether it is to be performed by customs agents or by the station chiefs, and other officers and police officers specially charged with the power of law. " Under the law of 1903 it was elaborated and sanctioned by the Royal Decree no. 1187 of March 13, 1904 "The regulation on the police service at border points in ports and stations", together with its "Application Instructions", which set out for half a century the activity in border control points. The same rules also provided for the way in which the main border points in the stations, ports and land border points were staffed with police.
At the crossing points with more intense traffic and where specific problems appeared, it was supplemented with gendarmes' pedestrian positions, detached from the companies near the border. "They have the quality of police officers and are placed under the immediate orders of the head of the point, who alone is entitled to decide how they can do their service" - the documents emphasized.
An important and significant chapter in the structure and substance of the Regulations and the instructions regarding the police service at the "border" points was represented by the one regarding the formalities and the procedures performed in the "travelers’ control".
There are stipulated provisions regarding police checks, both for the direction of entry into the country and for the one of departure, separately for foreign and Romanian travelers.
In this normative act, for the first time, unitary provisions, comprehensive and detailed, appear on the institution of control at the crossing of the Romanian state border, which, over the years, will gain the consistency and efficiency that the Romanian legislator of the turn of the XX. century has followed. The legal provisions, which at that time established the status of foreign travel in Romania, incorporated in their legal support the principle that crossing national borders could be achieved only on the basis of valid and recognized travel documents and visas applied by the country's diplomatic and consular representatives. ours abroad.
An important segment of the framework of the control regulations carried out at the border points was the enumeration and individualization of the causes that determined the refusal of the entry into Romania of some foreigners.
For example, it was forbidden to enter the country of foreigners who were expelled from the country by administrative means or by judicial decision "as long as the sentence was not lifted". The record of these foreigners was kept in an "alphabetical register for the registration of expulsed, extradited and expelled".
Another category of people who were not allowed access to the country, even though they possessed documents as a rule, were those "touched by dementia and who were not accompanied by someone else". The purpose was to not disturb public order and peace by leaving such individuals free, as well as not exposing them to different dangers or accidents.
There is also the category of persons who were forbidden to enter the Government country, as a safety measure. These were listed in the "Alphabetical Register for the registration of the pursued and suspected individuals".
The Romanian legislation regulating the crossing and control over the border stipulated, as an exception, that "one can leave the country even without a passport or a 5-day ticket to the persons for whom a special order of the minister will be given to the point police chief".
In 1928, according to the Regulation on the Police Service at the Border Points, the Border Police was a National Security body and had the task of preventing and combating "the various actions harmful to the state, both by observing the movements at the border and by the informative activity. of those who bring actions against the internal and external security of the state ".
In the interwar period, initially, two units were created - Regiments 3 and 4 Border Patrol. Subsequently, reaching the conclusion that a regiment was too large an area of security, six other regiments were gradually created, so that, in 1944, it reached a number of ten.
In the face of the danger of the outbreak of World War II, on December 16, 1938, the "Law for the creation of military zones and the measures necessary for the defense of the country" was adopted, the territory being divided into military zones, including the border area, defined in the article. 3 as "Romanian territory along the borders of the country whose depth varies according to the nature of the border between10-30 km". In this area, several specific restrictions were applied to the border regime and the defense needs of the country.
On July 12, 1940, the General Directorate of the State Police and Security was established (including the Border Police, according to Law 2370).
During the second world conflagration, the border forces carried out missions typical of the war, and for the way they were carried out they were quoted by the Unit Daily Order, including the Army Daily Order.
Law no. 59, approved by Decree no. 143 of January 23, 1941, envisaged the militarization of police offices at the border, ports, airports and stations and were controlled by the General Staff or other organs of the army, decided by it.
On January 1, 1946, the Command of the Border Troops was organized, organized on three Border Brigades, a Border Training Center and a Group of Ships. The brigade consisted of two regiments, and the regiment two battalions and one training battalion.
Instructiunile nr. 28860 din 8 martie 1947 pentru organizarea si executarea controlului si supravegherii in spatele frontierei, prevedea ca acestea se faceau de catre echipele speciale de politie si jandarmi in vederea stavilirii trecerilor peste frontiera ce se faceau pe scara intinsa din cauza pazei insuficient facute.
La 21 iunie 1947, prin Legea nr. 208, Comandamentul Trupelor de Graniceri a fost scos din subordinea Ministerului Apararii Nationale si trecut in cea a Ministerului de Interne, avand aceeasi misiune - paza si apararea frontierelor. Pe linia si zona de frontiera granicerii aveau atributiuni de politie generala, iar comandantii de unitati de paza si subofiterii comandanti de plutoane erau imputerniciti ca ofiteri ai Politiei Judiciare.
In 1948 a fost infiintat Serviciul de Pasapoarte si Politie de Frontiera din subordinea Ministerului de Interne, iar, un an mai tarziu, Trupele de Graniceri aveau ca sarcina si controlul punctelor de trecere a frontierei.
Prin Legea nr. 53 din 24 februarie 1948 pentru stabilirea unor masuri de siguranta in zona de frontiera, paza si supravegherea granitelor se facea pe linia de frontiera si in interiorul tarii, pe o adancime de 25 km de la aceasta linie. Mentionam ca, dupa anul 1944, o data cu instaurarea regimului comunist si pana la Revolutia din 1989, activitatea celor de la fruntarii poarta pecetea conceptiei epocii conform careia "trupele de graniceri se integreaza in sistemul general de aparare a patriei". Prin Decretul nr. 25/22 ianuarie 1949 se infiinteaza Militia, in cadrul Ministerului Afacerilor Interne, si se desfiinteaza Politia si Jandarmeria, iar prin Decretul nr. 102/16 martie 1949 se infiinteaza Trupele de Securitate.
Prin H.C.M. nr. 1361/11.07.1956 structura M.I. era constituita din Departamentul Securitatii si Departamentul Internelor. La Directia Securitatii se aflau Trupele de Securitate, Trupele de Graniceri si Trupele de Paza. Prin Decretul nr. 68/20.02.1960 Trupele de Graniceri au fost trecute la Ministerul Fortelor Armate iar punctele de frontiera au ramas in structura Comandamentului Trupelor de Graniceri. In 1964, prin H.C.M. nr. 258/26 mai, punctele de control pentru trecerea frontierei de stat au trecut de la M.F.A. la M.A.I.
Decretul nr. 14 din anul 1972, la art. 1, stipula ca "paza si apararea frontierei de stat au devenit un atribut al intregului popor; pentru asigurarea pazei frontierei de stat trupele de graniceri coopereaza cu celelalte comandamente ale M.Ap.N., cu organele M.I. si cu comitetele executive ale consiliilor populare. In indeplinirea misiunii de paza a frontierei de stat se sprijina, de asemenea, pe serviciile pazei obstesti din comunele situate in zona de frontiera si pe concursul voluntar al cetatenilor".
Anterior, prin Ordinul nr. 172 din 22 noiembrie 1968, s-a stabilit ca "atributiile M.A.I. cu privire la munca de pasapoarte, evidenta a strainilor si controlul trecerii frontierei de stat romane se aduc la indeplinire de catre Directia de Pasapoarte, Evidenta a Strainilor si Controlul Trecerii Frontierei, direct si prin organele sale subordonate, precum si prin inspectoratele judetene de militie, respectiv Inspectoratul de Militie Bucuresti".
Comandamentul Trupelor de Graniceri a functionat in subordinea Ministerului Afacerilor Interne (cum se redenumise ulterior), pana in anul 1960, cand a revenit in structurile M.Ap.N., subordonare care a durat pana in anul 1992, cand, prin Legea nr. 56/1992 privind Frontiera de Stat a Romaniei, Comandamentul Trupelor de Graniceri s-a transformat in Comandamentul National al Granicerilor si a trecut in structura Ministerului de Interne.
Prin Hotararea C.S.A.T. nr. 113 din 16 decembrie 1998 privind Programul M.I. de restructurare a fortelor cu competente la frontiera de stat s-a dispus ca sa se constituie Politia de Frontiera Romana, condusa de Inspectoratul General al Politiei de Frontiera, pentru indeplinirea misiunilor de paza, supraveghere si controlul frontierei de stat, iar prin O.U.G. nr. 80 din 4 iunie 1999 s-a infiintat Politia de Frontiera Romana, prin preluarea structurilor si efectivelor C.N.Gr. si D.P.F. din cadrul Directiei Generale de Politie de Frontiera, Straini, Probleme de Migrari si Pasapoarte. La data intrarii in vigoare a ordonantei s-a infiintat si Garda de Coasta, in structura I.G.P.F., prin preluarea unitatilor de marina granicereasca maritima si fluviala din cadrul C.N.Gr. si a unor posturi ale Politiei T.N. din cadrul I.G.P., stabilite prin Ordin al ministrului de interne.
Realitatile juridice actuale din sfera protectiei si managementul frontierei cat si din mecanismul functional al institutiei politiei de frontiera, ce privesc suportul legislativ, cadrul structural, dimensiunea organizatorica cat si algoritmul relational, isi au consacrarea si materializarea in urmatorul corp de acte normative: O.U.G. nr. 104 din 27.06.2001, aprobata prin Legea nr. 81 din 26.02.2002, O.U.G. nr. 105 din 27.06.2001, aprobata prin Legea nr. 243 din 29.04.2002, H.G. nr. 445 din 6.05.2002 de aprobare a Normelor metodologice de aplicare a O.U.G. nr. 105 cat si strategiile de securizare a frontierei de stat si cea privind managementul integrat al frontierei.
