The government granted Justice Minister Liisa Pakosta the authority to sign a prison agreement with Sweden. The agreement will last for five years. The plan is to sign the agreement on June 18 in Stockholm.
We are concluding an agreement with the Swedish state. Sweden is a close ally of ours. The agreement was necessary to keep the Tartu prison operational. This will help preserve jobs in Southern Estonia.
If we do nothing, the Tartu prison may close in a year. Then we will lose many jobs and good employees. The agreement states that Estonia will provide Sweden with 400 prison cells. In total, there can be up to 600 prisoners. Estonian and Swedish prisoners will not meet.
Estonia will check the background of every Swedish prisoner. Estonia will not accept dangerous individuals. All Swedish prisoners will be sent back to Sweden before the end of their sentence.
The agreement states that Sweden must pay Estonia 30.6 million euros per year. Additional money will be paid for each new prisoner. Initially, there is a transition period. For this period, Sweden will pay 22.95 million euros.
The approval of the agreement will take place at the government meeting next week. After that, the parliament must also approve it. After the agreement is signed, further negotiations will take place.