Belgium Sends Ministers to Estonia to Explore Renting Prison Space

Overview

• Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden and Asylum Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt have launched a diplomatic mission to assess transferring irregular foreign detainees to Estonian facilities.
• The agenda includes talks with Estonian minister Liisa-Ly Pakosta and an on-site inspection of a prison in Tallinn.
• Belgium reports 13,501 detainees for a capacity of 11,049, with roughly one-third not entitled to reside in the country and hundreds sleeping on mattresses.
• Estonia is being evaluated alongside ongoing technical contacts with Kosovo and Albania, and no agreement has been finalized.
• Sweden offers a recent precedent with a plan to rent about 600 places in Estonia that still requires parliamentary approval, as Belgium also weighs early releases and expanded forensic psychiatry at home.