Estonia explores renting out empty prisons to get more money for budget
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Estonia’s Justice Ministry hopes that renting out space in the country’s prisons will be a welcome boon for state funding.
PHOTO: UNSPLASH
TALLINN – Estonia is considering renting out prison space to other countries, a programme that its justice minister says could raise an extra €30 million (S$43.7 million) for the cash-strapped Baltic country.
In recent years, the nation of 1.3 million has benefited from a comparatively low crime rate, leaving its three prisons half-empty.
The Justice Ministry hopes that renting out space will be a welcome boon for state funding.
Estonia’s new government has embarked on a round of tax hikes and budget cuts. It also seeks to boost military spending to deter potential threats from Russia.
“Serious crime is on the rise in Europe. There are only four countries in the European Union where crime is increasing slowly,” Justice Minister Liisa-Ly Pakosta told public broadcaster ERR in an interview published on Aug 25. “Fortunately, Estonia is one of them right now.”
There are precedents for Ms Pakosta’s suggestion. Norway has rented out space in Dutch jails amid a shortage of available capacity.
The Times reported that Britain’s then Justice Secretary Alex Chalk met Estonian counterparts in 2023 to investigate a similar scheme.
Estonia’s Cabinet has not yet started discussing the proposal, which would need to be adopted by Parliament before it can be implemented.
It is not clear whether the measure will have enough support to pass.
Ms Pakosta pointed to an arrangement under which Estonia already holds three war criminals from other countries in its Tartu Prison.
“By renting out prison space, we’d achieve a situation where we’d provide significantly more jobs – jobs with completely reasonable salaries,” Ms Pakosta told ERR. “We could resolve several budget deficit-related issues.” BLOOMBERG
