Years pass, and the image on the streets remains the same: police officers in worn-out and different uniforms. After several failed tenders and the last one canceled at the end of November last year, it seems that police officers may finally get new clothes and footwear. A Financing Agreement has been signed between the Ministry of Interior and UNDP, which will take over the procurement process for uniforms.
"The agreement defines that through a public procurement procedure, which will be conducted by the UNDP, experts will be hired who will prepare the technical specifications and design of uniforms in accordance with best international practices, and in relation to the needs of the Police Directorate," the Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
The first payment of 1,9 million euros has already been made, and the Ministry of Interior will make a total of 4,4 million euros available to UNDP. The remainder must be paid by the end of April 2026. All this after almost a decade without new uniforms - the last official sets were introduced in 2016.
The Independent Police Union warns that such a situation undermines both the work and reputation of the police.
"When a foreigner comes to Montenegro, the first thing he meets is a police officer. If he sees him in a torn, worn uniform, in shoes or sneakers of different colors, he creates an image of the seriousness or frivolity of the country he is coming to. The citizens of Montenegro also view us in a different way, because you cannot go out with a torn uniform and enforce the law among citizens," said Igor Rmandić, president of the Independent Police Union.
For years, police officers have not been issued with complete uniforms. Tenders announced in 2023 and 2024 failed, and the last one was canceled due to complaints from bidders. Rmandić believes that the state is responsible for the fact that police officers have been waiting for years for someone to finally sew their uniforms.
"The irresponsibility of all those people who have led the state and the security system in which we operate in the past ten years. We cannot constantly hear that tenders have failed without asking ourselves why these tenders are failing, whether it is due to someone's gross or intentional mistake or the ignorance of the people who conduct these tenders. If it is a question of ignorance, then they need to be changed, and if it is a question of evil intent, then the main question is who we arrested for that evil intent and for that deliberate failure of the tender," Rmandić pointed out.
The Ministry of Interior did not explain to us why the state, after several failed tenders, decided to hand over the entire job to the UNDP.
To conclude, the police officers last received uniforms in 2016, and Rmandić hopes that, symbolically, they will be able to wear new ones after a decade.
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