// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Estonia rejects proposals to take prisoners from UK jails
Estonia's Tartu prison has about 900 cells but many of them are empty
The Estonian government has rejected the idea of taking prisoners from the UK to help ease the overcrowding crisis in British jails.
Justice Minister Liisa Pakosta told the BBC Estonia would not rent jail cells to other countries while it was housing criminals from Sweden in its half-empty Tartu prison under a deal signed last week.
The Conservatives and Reform UK have both suggested renting cells in foreign prisons, including in Estonia, to free up space and prevent the early releases of some offenders in England and Wales.
The Labour government also explored the idea in 2024 but talks with Estonia came to nothing.
Pakosta said Estonia had received no proposals to rent its prison space from the UK, adding that if one was to be made "our answer would be unequivocal - in Margaret Thatcher's famous words: No. No. No."
She added: "Such a proposal would not merely be mistaken, misguided or unacceptable; it would deserve to be rejected outright."
Thatcher memorably repeated "no" three times in 1990 speech, as she fiercely rejected calls for deeper political and economic integration of the European Community, which later evolved into the European Union.
In 2024, the Labour government, when Sir Keir Starmer was prime minister, held talks with Estonia to discuss the Baltic state's policy to house some prisoners from abroad.
Pakosta previously told the BBC she had met then-UK Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood in Lithuania.