However, head of the Police Trade Union (PSS) Radivoj Uroševič said that the police would only suspend the strike.

"If all sides agree to the contents of the deal, we can expect it to be initialled soon and thus end the strike," said the ministry in a press release.

However, Uroševič told the STA that the strike would only end when measures agreed in the deal take effect, presumably in the autumn. The strike is only suspended until then: "That is all. Nothing is final."

According to him, the deal addresses issues the two sides have talked about ever since the police started the strike on 18 November last year.

The police is seeking better pay and working conditions in line with promises given before 2010, when the economic crisis forced cuts in public sector pay, as well as the regulation of how changes to police standards will be introduced in 2018. With the beginning of the year, officers will have to have higher levels of education.

Uroševič meanwhile said that the two police unions, apart from the PSS there is also the SPS, will go over the agreement next week to decide whether the contents "truly address the strike demands".