After Denmark, Belgium Considers Transferring Prisoners to Kosovo
The Belgian government is looking for a solution for prisoners in Belgian prisons and is looking at renting prison capacity in a “different European legal regime”. Kosovo is currently one of the options, but other countries are also being looked at, they report. Belgian media.
Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden is investigating different options for prisons abroad for detainees in this country. She spoke today in the Belgian Parliament about solutions to overcrowding in Belgian prisons. Among other things, solutions are being sought for detainees in Belgium, reports the Belga news agency, following KosovaPress.
The agreement includes the possibility of looking abroad for prison capacity for these prisoners, but no further details are mentioned, except that it should be a “different European legal regime.”
According to Minister Verlinden, various options are being investigated and Belgium is currently establishing bilateral contacts. One of the countries mentioned is Kosovo, a state with which Denmark has similar agreements.
“Other countries are also being looked at and it is too early to make final statements,” she said.
The fact is that such an agreement with another European country is an expensive affair anyway. According to Verlinden, 300 sites in Kosovo cost 202 million euros for 10 years. Moreover, those sites will not be available until 2027, as the cells do not yet meet European standards.
Kosovo has agreed to around 200 million euros in 2021 for Denmark to bring 300 of its prisoners to serve sentences in a prison in Gjilan for 10 years.
The Kosovo Assembly, in a 2024 plenary session, approved the agreement with Denmark for the use of the correctional institution in Gjilan for the purpose of executing Danish sentences.