The Ministry of the Interior and Administration (, MSWiA) is an administration structure controlling main administration and security branches of the Polish government. After the 2011 Polish parliamentary elections, it was transformed into two ministries: Ministry of the Interior (Minister: Jacek Cichocki) and Ministry of Administration and Digitization (Minister: Michał Boni). It was recreated in late 2015.

History and function The ministry was founded in 1918 as the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych). It has gone through several reforms, including partial splits and mergers, throughout its history.

Following the abolition of the Security Office (UB) in 1954, auxiliary departments, including departmental hospitals, nurseries, and the retail chain, were transferred from the UB to the Ministry of Interior, headed by Władysław Wicha. First of all, the Ministry of Internal Affairs took over the competences related to the resident registration and registration of the population, passport matters (which were soon returned to the security service), supervision over the Citizens' Militia, ORMO, KBW, and the Border Protection Force as well as the State Fire Service and the Prison Service.

On 14 July 1983 The Act "on the office of the Minister of Internal Affairs and the scope of activities of the bodies subordinate to him" was adopted; the Voivodeship Militia Headquarters () were replaced with Voivodeship Offices for Internal Affairs (), and similar steps were taken at the district and regional levels.

Massive changes began in the ministry following the appointment of Krzysztof Kozłowski, a senator on the Solidarity list of the Civic Parliamentary Club, as Deputy Minister on 7 March 1990.

During a reform of the Polish government in 1996, the administration branch was merged into the Ministry and it was renamed to its current name (on 24 December).

Powers and responsibilities Traditionally, it is one of the most important governmental cabinet positions in Poland,It is equivalent to the Interior Ministry of other countries, the Home Office of the United Kingdom, or similar to a combination of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security (United States).

The ministry is responsible for the following:

The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes including the major law-enforcement forces (see law enforcement in Poland) the Polish National Police (Policja) the Polish Border Guard (Straż Graniczna) Civil defence the State Fire Brigade (Straż Pożarna) Search and rescue and the oversight of ambulance services the granting of identity documents (Polish passports, identity cards) and driving licenses through the network of voivodeships relations between the central government and local governments (except in the case of regional development, which is undertaken by the Ministry of Regional Development) logistics and organization of political elections, at the national and voivodeship levels (but the results of the elections are overseen by the Supreme Court of Poland). Article 101. regulation of immigration and preventing illegal immigration integration and registration of legal immigrants

While the ministry of the Interior supervises police forces, it does not supervise criminal enquiries; criminal enquiries are conducted under the supervision of the judiciary.

The Ministry's headquarters was located on the Stefan Batory Street, south of Warsaw's city centre and the governmental district which surrounds the Belweder. The Ministry could be referred to by its initials 'MSWiA'.

The last Minister of the Interior and Administration before it was split in 2011 was Jerzy Miller.

List of ministers Second Polish Republic (1918–1939) Minister Term of office Party Prime ministerMinister of Internal AffairsStanisław Thugutt17 November 191816 January 1919PSL "Wyzwolenie"Jędrzej MoraczewskiStanisław Wojciechowski16 January 19199 June 1920IndependentIgnacy PaderewskiLeopold SkulskiJózef Kuczyński23 June 192024 July 1920IndependentWładysław GrabskiLeopold Skulski24 July 192028 June 1921National People's UnionWincenty WitosWładysław Raczkiewicz28 June 192113 September 1921IndependentStanisław Downarowicz19 September 19215 March 1922IndependentAntoni PonikowskiAntoni Kamieński10 March 192211 December 1922IndependentArtur ŚliwińskiJulian NowakLudwik Darowski11 December 192214 December 1922IndependentWładysław Sikorski16 December 192226 May 1923IndependentHimselfWładysław Kiernik28 May 192315 December 1923PSL "Piast"Wincenty WitosWładysław Sołtan19 December 192321 March 1924IndependentWładysław GrabskiZygmunt Hübner21 March 192417 November 1924IndependentCyryl Ratajski17 November 192414 (15) June 1925?Władysław Raczkiewicz14 (20) June 19255 May 1926IndependentAleksander SkrzyńskiStefan Smólski10 May 192615 May 1926Polish ChristianDemocratic PartyWincenty WitosKazimierz Młodzianowski15 May 192630 September 1926IndependentKazimierz BartelFelicjan Sławoj Składkowski2 October 19267 December 1929IndependentJózef PiłsudskiKazimierz BartelKazimierz ŚwitalskiHenryk Józewski29 December 19293 June 1930IndependentKazimierz BartelWalery SławekFelicjan Sławoj Składkowski3 June 193022 June 1931IndependentJózef PiłsudskiWalery SławekAleksander PrystorBronisław Pieracki22 June 193115 June 1934Independent(BBWR)Janusz JędrzejewiczLeon KozłowskiLeon Kozłowski16 June 193428 June 1934Independent(BBWR)Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski28 June 193412 October 1935Independent(BBWR)Walery SławekWładysław Raczkiewicz13 October 193515 May 1936Independent(BBWR)Marian Zyndram-KościałkowskiFelicjan Sławoj Składkowski16 May 193630 September 1939IndependentHimself

Communist era (1944–1989) Minister Term of office Party Prime ministerMinister of Public SecurityStanisław Radkiewicz21 July 19447 December 1954Polish UnitedWorkers' PartyOsóbka-Morawski(PKWN, RTRP, TRJN)CyrankiewiczBierutCyrankiewiczMinister of Internal AffairsWładysław Wicha7 December 195412 December 1964Polish UnitedWorkers' PartyCyrankiewiczMieczysław Moczar12 December 196415 July 1968Kazimierz Świtała15 July 196813 February 1971JaroszewiczFranciszek Szlachcic13 February 197122 December 1971Wiesław Ociepka22 December 197128 February 1973Stanisław Kowalczyk22 March 19738 October 1980BabiuchPińkowskiPińkowskiMirosław Milewski8 October 198031 July 1981Jaruzelski Czesław Kiszczak31 July 19816 July 1990MessnerRakowskiHimselfMazowiecki

Republic of Poland (after 1989) Minister Term of office Party CabinetMinister of InteriorKrzysztof Kozłowski6 July 199012 January 1991 Democratic UnionMazowieckiHenryk Majewski12 January 199123 December 1991IndependentBieleckiAntoni Macierewicz23 December 199120 June 1992Christian National UnionOlszewskiAndrzej Milczanowski11 July 199222 December 1995IndependentSuchockaPawlakOleksyJerzy Konieczny29 December 19957 February 1996IndependentZbigniew Siemiątkowski7 February 199631 December 1996Democratic Left AllianceCimoszewiczMinister of Interior and AdministrationLeszek Miller1 January 199731 October 1997Democratic Left AllianceCimoszewiczJanusz Tomaszewski31 October 19973 September 1999Social MovementBuzekMarek Biernacki7 October 199919 October 2001Social MovementKrzysztof Janik19 October 200121 January 2004Democratic Left AllianceMillerJózef Oleksy21 January 200421 April 2004Democratic Left AllianceJerzy Szmajdziński21 April 20042 May 2004Democratic Left AllianceRyszard Kalisz2 May 200431 October 2005Democratic Left AllianceBelka IBelka IILudwik Dorn31 October 20057 February 2007Law and JusticeMarcinkiewiczKaczyńskiJanusz Kaczmarek8 February 20077 August 2007IndependentWładysław Stasiak8 August 200716 November 2007IndependentGrzegorz Schetyna16 November 200713 October 2009Civic PlatformTusk IJerzy Miller14 October 200918 November 2011IndependentMinister of InteriorJacek Cichocki18 November 201125 February 2013IndependentTusk IIBartłomiej Sienkiewicz25 February 201322 September 2014IndependentTeresa Piotrowska22 September 201416 November 2015Civic PlatformKopaczMinister of Internal Affairs and AdministrationMariusz Błaszczak16 November 20159 January 2018Law and JusticeSzydłoMorawiecki IJoachim Brudziński9 January 20184 June 2019Law and JusticeElżbieta Witek4 June 20199 August 2019Law and JusticeMariusz Kamiński9 August 201927 November 2023Law and JusticeMorawiecki IIPaweł Szefernaker27 November 202313 December 2023Law and JusticeMorawiecki IIIMarcin Kierwiński13 December 202313 May 2024Civic PlatformTusk IIITomasz Siemoniak13 May 202424 July 2025Civic PlatformMarcin Kierwiński24 July 2025IncumbentCivic Platform

See also is overseen by the Ministry

Notes

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