"There are overcrowded prisons and it is then reasonable that more of those who are not Swedish citizens actually serve their prison sentences in their home countries," said Interior Minister Mikael Damberg (S).

How will that happen?

- It is a matter of urgency, both for the Prison and the Courts, to speed up the process.

No appeal on consent

The government wants more people to serve prison sentences in their home country and that the handling of such cases should go faster. On Thursday, therefore, the government decided on a bill where the main point is a requirement for urgent treatment in the Prison and the Judicial Service. In cases where the convicted person consented to be transferred to another country, it should no longer be possible to appeal the decision.

The origin of the change is, among other things, the EU's new rules on the enforcement of prison sentences that came into force in 2015. The change in law is primarily intended to affect EU citizens from countries outside the Nordic countries.

How many places do you think you release in this way?

- We see that today there are about 400 EU citizens from countries outside the Nordic countries in Swedish prisons. Many of them could have been transferred to their home countries and serve their sentences there, says Mikael Damberg.

If this becomes a reality, is there a finished agreement so that these countries actually receive the prisoners?

- We have historically had problems with some countries, but for example Romania has improved the conditions in its prisons so that it is now possible to transfer there. We have a collaboration with Poland and Lithuania that they will also take shorter prison stays, so we see that it is going in the right direction, ”says Mikael Damberg.

According to the Prison and Probation Service, 4393 persons were registered at an institution on October 1, 2018. 1319 of them did not have Swedish citizenship, ie about 30 percent of the total number in the country's prisons.