Having obtained the required majority of Parliamentary votes, the Swedish government is going ahead with an agreement to send up to 600 prisoners to Estonian prison facilities in 2026. That is reported as an initial number. The move, much debated, has been approved due to the rampant crime problem in Sweden and resulting overcrowding of Swedish prisons. This is, of course, mostly due to the violent crime being carried out by many migrants in Sweden, either acting individually, in concert with terror organizations, or on the part of organized criminal immigrant gangs.
I assume most, if not all, of those sent to Estonia will be foreign prisoners.
The article below from the conservative Swedish news outlet, Nya Dagbladet, is translated by Fousesquawk.
Domestic
Parliamentary majority secured- Prisoners will be sent to Estonian prisons
Organized crime
Posted today at 13:58
By Isac Boman
Caption: Agreement with Estonia initially includes 400 cells with places for up to 600 inmates.
The Social Democrats stand behind the government's proposal to initially rent 400 prison spaces in Estonia. The announcement means that the necessary Parliamentary majority is secured to solve the acute lack of space in Swedish prisons.
"We have concluded that this is necessary," announces the party's legal-political spokesperson, Teresa Carvalho.
Sweden and Estonia signed an agreement this summer to rent spaces in a facility in Tartu. The reason is the acutely pressing situation in Swedish prisons, where more and more people are being sentenced to long prison terms as a result of the rampant serious crime and efforts in recent years to combat it.
Prison services and concerned unions have long sounded the alarm that overcrowding in the prison facilities constitutes a serious safety risk for both personnel and the inmates themselves.
To hand over responsibility for prisons to another country is not entirely uncontroversial, since this is usually considered one of a state's core tasks. Therefore, a qualified majority in Parliament is required, something that the Tidö parties' (coalition) narrow advantage is not sufficient for.
"Cannot turn a blind eye to the problem"
The Social Democrats' announcement on Thursday is of great importance, even though Teresa Carvalho stresses that the party would actually prefer Swedish solutions.
"Swedish correctional services should be conducted in Sweden," she says, and points out that several prisons in Sweden would both improve correctional services and create Swedish jobs.
"With that said, we cannot turn a blind eye to the problem of the shortage of capacity. We have concluded that it is necessary to rent this prison in Estonia," Carvalho, who visited the facility in Tartu this autumn.
The Center Party has also given its support to the proposal.
600 inmates beginning Summer 2026
The agreement with Estonia includes 400 cells for up to 600 inmates, with a planned start in the summer of 2026.
Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer (Moderate Party) believes that Sweden and Estonia have the same views on human rights and the rule of law principles. He has also been to Tartu and believes that the government has received sufficient guarantees that the correction services there will be conducted properly.
With the Social Democrats' yes-announcement, the government can now go forward with the (highly) debated but, according to the judgment of many, very practical solution for Sweden's growing prison crisis.
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