The prison transfer agreement signed by the Estonian and Swedish ministers of justice is currently awaiting ratification by the parliaments of both countries.

Swedish Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer's visit to on Monday began with a visit to Tartu Prison. According to the Estonian-Swedish prison transfer agreement, Tartu will provide Sweden with 400 cells for up to 600 prisoners.

"Overall, I have a very good impression of Estonian prisons and law enforcement agencies. Our services work in much the same way, and today we received confirmation that our positive impression of the Estonian legal system is true," said Strömmer.

Although Sweden is currently investing heavily in expanding their own prison system, they still have issues with overcrowding. This is one of the main reasons why they want to rent prison space from Estonia.

"From our perspective, this is a very important contribution for us toward alleviating the pressure we are currently seeing on our prison system and will continue to see in the coming years. We need to make some changes and additions to our legislation to make this possible, but that is only natural, as it is a new way of operating in Sweden as well," said Strömmer.

In other words, the Swedes will have to amend their constitution so that Swedish prisoners sent to Estonia will be subject to Estonian law while in Tartu.

"This is now the first agreement in the world where one country transfers the performance of a fundamental function of the state to another country. There have been many prison agreements like this before, but they have always been made in such a way that, figuratively speaking, another country moves into an empty house. The current agreement between Denmark and Kosovo is similar, with Danish law applying in Kosovo. Estonia has negotiated an agreement whereby our law applies in our country and our people work there," said Estonian Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs Liisa-Ly Pakosta (Eesti 200).

All maintenance costs related to incoming prisoners from Sweden will be covered by the Swedish state.

"The most important thing for us is that the price floor, or the minimum of €30 million, is met in any event. Unfortunately, prices are rising in Estonia, so we also have a price increase component in the contract that automatically rises every year," Pakosta added.

Initially, there is a five-year contract, which can be extended by mutual agreement between the two parties.

"I am really optimistic when it comes to the possibilities of doing this right. If we do it right and there is still space available in Estonian prisons, I am sure that this can be part of our operations for a long time, but again, it does not depend only on us. This is something that Sweden and Estonia have to agree on," said Strömmer.

For the prison lease agreement to enter into force, it first has to be ratified by the parliaments of both countries. The first prisoners could arrive in Estonia from Sweden in the middle of next year.

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