On June 18, Pakosta and Swedish Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer signed a prison rental agreement between the two countries, which guarantees Sweden the use of 400 cells for a total of up to 600 inmates.

Finnish Ministry of Justice negotiator Miia Ljunqvist told Helsingin Sanomat that talks have also been held with the Estonian Ministry of Justice. 

Finland says all of its prisons are currently experiencing overcrowding – for example, the Vantaa prison near Helsinki had, as of last week, 70 more inmates than spaces available for them.

Finland's justice minister, Leena Meri, said analysis started last month to establish whether Finnish law allows for renting prison places from a foreign country, with the primary view being to rent prison places from Estonia if it is legally permissible, Yle reported.

Meri said: "The idea is good and should be part of our toolbox," though she was unable to put a timeline on when this may become a reality.

Corresponding analysis began in Finland before Estonia and Sweden concluded the prison place rental agreement in June, she added, and that agreement has given added impetus to Finland looking into the idea.

"If Sweden, as a rule-of-law country, has managed to resolve this, perhaps we also have options we just haven't considered yet," the minister added.

However, Finland would not gain economically from an agreement with Estonia in the same way as Sweden: The latter will pay Estonia €8,500 per inmate per month, compared with €11,400 a month in Sweden itself. However, the average monthly cost in Finland is lower at €6,300 per prisoner.

Meri noted "Estonia must also be willing to offer more prison spaces for rent," while both Pakosta and Strömmer stressed that adequate background checks on inmates will take place before their transfer to Estonia, and that no inmate from Sweden's prison system will be released inside Estonia.

The minister said that the matter is still under discussion, with ongoing analysis, and highlighted challenges including the need for legal changes, lack of funds, and uncertainties about the costs of prisoner transport and translation services.

Estonia has three prisons, in Tallinn, Jõhvi, and in Tartu, with the latter of these in particular having free space. The prisons are modern and were built at a time when Estonia still experienced higher crime rates, in the years following the restoration of independence.

Minister: Several NATO countries are interested

Other countries have also informally inquired about the possibility of renting prison places from Estonia, said Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs Liisa Pakosta.

"Yes, there is more than one such country. /---/ But I'll skip listing them here," Pakosta said on Vikerraadio's "Uudis+" program on Friday.

Asked to clarify that information, she added that Estonia has stated from the beginning that the only reason to pursue such agreements is broader cooperation on security.

"In other words, we are talking only about NATO member states," the minister noted.

ERR News has previously reported several countries are interested in renting Estonia's empty prison space, such as the U.K. and the Netherlands.

At the same time, Pakosta stressed that Estonia would rent out its prison places on different terms than many other countries. This means Estonian laws would apply.

She said this had been made clear to Finnish Minister of Justice Leena Meri.

"The Swedes have simply been the fastest and most straightforward, and negotiations with them have been held at the executive level. The decision is now in the hands of both countries' legislatures. If both parliaments ratify the agreement, it will go into effect. If they don't, we'll start looking around again," she said.

Asked whether she personally would want to conclude a similar agreement with Finland, the minister replied: "Well, Estonia tends to do one set of negotiations at a time. We do not have any ambition to become a country that rents out prison places. Once again, this is about resolving the issue of a building standing empty, and in that regard our negotiations with Sweden have come very far, and now we're awaiting the positions of the legislatures. One set of negotiations at a time."

Pakosta also stressed that Estonia is looking to rent out prison places to avoid having to cover the preservation costs of the now-vacant Tartu prison, which could amount to as much as €12 million per year.

When asked whether there is another detention facility in Estonia currently standing empty that could also be rented out, Pakosta pointed to the Jõhvi detention center.

"At the moment, we are not dealing with that building, it belongs to the Ministry of the Interior, which has kept it unused since 2021. That building is a good example of how badly a critical security facility can deteriorate when left vacant because it depreciates very quickly," the minister explained. If that building were to be put back into use, it would, according to her, create about 60 additional jobs.

This article was updated to add comments from Minister of Justice Liisa Pakosta.

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