Sweden to rent prison cells in Estonia amid overcrowding
Sweden said Wednesday it had reached an agreement with Estonia to rent prison cells for up to 600 prisoners who could serve their sentences abroad, anticipating heavy pressure on its own facilities.
According to a deal struck between the two countries, Sweden would be able to rent 400 cells in the Tartu prison in Estonia's southeast, with a capacity to house 600 prisoners.
Sweden's Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said Estonia was "a very important and close partner", and bound by the same international commitments when it came to prisoners.
"There are therefore very good conditions for a deeper cooperation between Sweden and Estonia," Strommer told a press conference.
He also noted that the implementation of the deal would require some changes to Swedish legislation and would need to be approved by Sweden's parliament by a three-fourths majority.
Several other European countries have already experimented with similar solutions, including Norway and Belgium which have rented cells in The Netherlands in the past, while Denmark is currently preparing to send inmates to Kosovo.
Sweden has seen a rise in violent crime in recent years, with shootings and bombings linked to score-settling between rival criminal networks.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's centre-right government, backed in parliament by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, came to power in 2022 with a vow to get tough on crime.
Ingemar Kihlstrom of the Christian Democrats, a junior coalition partner, told reporters the government was instituting harsher sentences and giving police more powers to bring criminals to justice.
"This will continue to put a lot of pressure on the prison system," Kihlstrom said.
Prisoners would only be sent to Estonia if they had no need for extensive healthcare treatment and did not pose a high security risk, the government said.
Strommer said "a guiding principle" for Sweden in the negotiations with Estonia had been "to ensure that the serving of sentences in Estonia is as similar as possible to what it would be in Sweden."
He added that he hoped to sign the deal with his Estonian counterpart Liisa-Ly Pakosta "within a few weeks".
According to the government's timetable, given that it passes Sweden's parliament, it would then enter into force on July 1, 2026.
