A protest against the multi-million euro prison rental agreement between Estonia and Sweden took place in Tartu at noon on Sunday.
Sweden will pay Estonia €30.6 million per year for up to 300 prisoners, plus €8,500 per month for each additional inmate. They will be housed in the half-empty Tartu Prison in south Estonia from the second half of 2026.
ERR’s reporter in Tartu, Airika Harrik, said around 50 people attended Sunday’s rally on the riverbank of the Emajõgi in the center of the city.
Among the politicians speaking to ralliers from a boat on the river were Center Party Secretary General Anneli Ott, Social Democrat Heljo Pikhof and Isamaa’s Tartu City Council member Sandra Laur. All three parties are in opposition in the parliament.
Speaking at the protest, Laur said: “The Swedes gave us meatballs and Pippi [Longstocking], but they should keep their own trash to themselves.”
Earlier this month, the Riigikogu approved amendments to the law allowing foreign prisoners to be transferred to Estonian prisons. Estonia also ratified the prison agreement with Sweden.
The agreement provides for the use of up to 400 cells at Tartu Prison to house as many as 600 Swedish inmates. The agreement is valid for five years, with an option to extend it by a further three years.
The prisoners transferred to Tartu Prison will be men serving sentences, generally for violent or drug-related offenses. They will only be allowed to leave the prison grounds in exceptional circumstances.
Deputy Secretary General for the Prison Department at the Ministry of Justice, Rait Kuuse, said that prisoners are expected to receive visitors only rarely.
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