by FFE EU News Staff

Norway’s Justice minister Anders Anundsen sent a proposal to Sweden on Monday requesting the latter to accommodate Norway’s prisoners. Norway currently faces shortages in prison space, which may force police to release some criminals back to the streets.

The minister said ‘I think this is a win-win situation for both us and the Swedes. We cannot live with the situation we have in this country now. We have long prison queues, and that is why we have contacted the Swedes to see if it is possible to renting prison places there.’

Sweden earlier closed down four prisons after a drop in the number of people who are given prison sentences. Sweden Prison and Probation Services (Kriminalvården) head Nils Öberg said in November ‘Now we have the opportunity to close down a part of our infrastructure that we don’t need at this point of time.’

Minister Anundsen confessed that the legalities of such a request were still unclear. But he pointed out a similar situation in 2009 when the Netherlands rented out their prison space to Belgium.

Sweden’s Justice Ministry remains mum on the subject. According to spokesman Per Claréus, ‘We’re not going to say anything today. As far as I know, this letter [from Anundsen] hasn’t arrived at the justice ministry today.’