Estonia Blocks the Majority of Prisoners from Sweden

The first prisoners from Sweden have now arrived in Estonia, but far from all those Sweden wanted to send there can be accommodated. Estonian authorities have stopped more than half of the inmates Sweden has tried to place in the country. At the same time, political opposition to the agreement is growing.

The first plane carrying prisoners from Sweden has landed in Estonia. However, the Swedish government’s plan to relieve the heavily burdened correctional system by placing inmates in Tartu has gotten off to a much shakier start than expected.

According to reports, more than half of the inmates that Sweden wanted to send have been blocked by Estonian authorities. Estonia’s Minister of Justice, Liisa Pakosta, confirms the information.

“These people will not come to Estonia,” says Pakosta according to Expressen.

This concerns the first group of inmates selected for transfer. Estonia has set clear requirements for which prisoners can be placed in Tartu.

Among other things, they must be men over 18 deemed suitable for placement in a facility corresponding to Sweden’s security class two. Individuals with connections to gang crime or radicalization may be stopped, as can those who pose a serious security risk.

To Accept Up to 600 Prisoners

The background is the growing shortage of prison places within the Swedish correctional service. In the summer of 2025, Sweden and Estonia signed an agreement that makes it possible for Sweden to temporarily allow prisoners to serve their sentences in Estonia. The agreement has since been approved by both countries’ parliaments.

The plan is for Sweden to rent about 400 cells in Tartu and eventually be able to place up to 600 inmates there. According to the original plan, the first 30 were to be transferred during August, after which the number will gradually increase.

This is the first time Sweden has allowed another country to handle the enforcement of Swedish prison sentences on a larger scale. Estonian legislation will, for the most part, be applied under the agreement, while Sweden has demanded that conditions be comparable to those in Swedish correctional services.

Strong Opposition in Estonia

The agreement has also faced significant opposition in Estonia. An opinion poll conducted in June showed that 54 percent of those surveyed were against or would prefer not to see inmates from Sweden placed in Tartu. Nearly half also believed that the agreement should be terminated by a future government.

The opposition has gone even further. The Isamaa party and other opposition forces have threatened to try to revoke the agreement if they win the next parliamentary election.

One of the most prominent critics is Sandra Laur from Isamaa. When SVT reported on the opposition at the beginning of August, she issued an unusually sharp message to Sweden:

“Sweden gave us Pippi and IKEA meatballs, for which we are grateful. But you have to take care of your own trash.”

Laur has also expressed concern that prisoners’ relatives might move to the area and that the agreement could, in the long run, contribute to increased insecurity and parallel societies.

“Take Care of Your Own Problems”

Reactions on the streets of Tartu have also been mixed. A Tartu resident interviewed by TT summed up their view much more bluntly:

“We don’t want them here, people are angry. Take care of your own problems, you have to solve them yourselves, you see what immigration has done to Sweden—it’s not like it was 40 years ago.”

At the same time, there are Estonians who do not see the agreement as a major security concern. However, critics are numerous enough for the issue to have become politically charged ahead of next year’s election.

The Prison Crisis Behind the Agreement

For Sweden, the agreement is primarily an attempt to cope with the sharply increased pressure on the correctional system. The government has described rented prison spaces in Estonia as one of several measures to quickly boost capacity while Swedish correctional services expand.

At the same time, the arrangement is also controversial in Sweden. Lawyers in particular have criticized the fact that inmates could find it significantly more difficult to see their relatives when serving sentences hundreds of kilometers from Sweden. One defense lawyer described the move as a “greater suffering” for those affected.