The number of prisoners in Estonia has fallen in recent years. For example, there were 1,700 prisoners incarcerated in July 2024, down from approximately 2,000 this time last year. Capacity in Viru Prison is currently 53 percent.

The National Audit Office has suggested the Ministry of Justice and the State Real Estate Company (RKAS) find ways to save money on maintenance costs.

This has already been done domestically. At the beginning of this month, half of the prisoners from Tartu Prison were transferred to Tallinn Prison and 90 prison employees were laid off. With this, Tallinn Prison's capacity rose to 68 percent.

But there are other options. Several European countries, such as Denmark, rent prison space in other countries, such as Kosovo.

The Ministry of Justice's Taavi Siru told ERR that this could also work for Estonia.

"Neighbouring countries in this sense have shown this to be the case, and statistics in European countries show that there are not actually excessive vacancies. And in the past, there has been more or less interest in how the prison population is decreasing. But there is no concrete evidence that we are now moving forward with any particular country," he said.

Siru said there are still nuances and legislation for the state to iron out: "The legal area must have the capacity to hold prisoners from another country in its own prisons."

Siru added that progress can be made when the government makes a corresponding decision.

RKAS representative Indrek Henk said before renting prison space out to foreign countries, it would be necessary to review the construction schemes of the prisons to mitigate possible risks.

Last year it was reported that the UK could rent space in Estonia's prisons, but nothing has been agreed.

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