Veteran of Overseas Military Service Day in Poland Date in the current year: May 29, 2024

Veteran of Overseas Military Service Day was officially established by the Sejm (the lower house of the parliament) of the Republic of Poland in 2011 and was first observed on May 29, 2012. Like most other Polish holidays and observances declared by statute or parliamentary resolution, it is not a non-working day unless falling on a weekend or coinciding with a public holiday (for example, Pentecost or Corpus Christi).

The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland (Wojsko Polskie) began active cooperation with Western states after the fall of the socialist regime in Poland. The Polish Armed Forces participated in the Gulf War, peacekeeping operations in Kosovo (as part of the NATO-led Kosovo Force), Lebanon, Chad and the Central African Republic, the War in Afghanistan, the 2003 invasion of Iraq and subsequent Iraq War, the 2005 “Swift Relief” in Pakistan, etc.

Veteran of Overseas Military Service Day in Poland coincides with the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers. The date of May 29 was chosen to commemorate the creation of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) in 1948. Originally founded for peacekeeping in the Middle East, it has since participated in other peacekeeping operations.