What is the state of prisons across the EU?

Euronews

13-05-2025

Turkey says it is closely monitoring any attempts to undermine its peace initiative with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a senior official has said, following the militant Kurdish group's announcement on Monday that it is dissolving and ending its decades-long armed conflict with the Turkish state.
The PKK, which is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the EU and the US, made the announcement after its imprisoned leader called for the group to formally disband and disarm.
The move could bring an end to one of the region's longest-running insurgencies.
In making the call, PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been jailed since 1999, stressed the need for securing Kurdish rights through negotiation rather than armed struggle.
Previous peace efforts with the group have failed, most recently in 2015. Given those past failures, a close aide to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed determination to uphold the current initiative and prevent any disruptions.
"We are closely following attempts to sabotage the process and we will not allow anyone to test our state's determination in this regard," Fahrettin Altun, the head of the Turkish presidential communications office said.
The PKK initially launched an armed struggle in the 1980s with the goal of establishing an independent Kurdish state.
Over time, the group moderated its objectives towards more autonomy and greater Kurdish rights within Turkey.
The conflict, which has spilled into neighbouring Iraq and Syria, has claimed tens of thousands of lives since it began.
The latest peace effort, which the government labelled "Terror-Free Turkey", was launched in October after a key ally of President Erdoğan suggested that Öcalan could be granted parole were the PKK to renounce violence and disband.
Officials have not disclosed details about the process that will follow the PKK's decision.
Media close to the government have reported that the PKK's disarmament process is expected to take three to four months, with weapons being collected at designated locations in northern Iraq under official supervision.
According to the Hürriyet daily newspaper, the disarmament could be overseen jointly by Turkey and the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq or through a commission involving Turkey, the US, the EU and Iraq.
The newspaper also suggested that high-ranking PKK members may be relocated to third countries, while lower-ranking militants without arrest warrants could return to Turkey once a legal framework is established to facilitate their reintegration.
Turkish officials have not responded to requests for comment on the report.
Analysts also expect Öcalan to see improved prison conditions following the PKK's disbandment.
Erdoğan said on Monday that the PKK's declaration should apply to all affiliated groups, including Kurdish militant organisations in Syria.
Kurdish fighters in Syria have ties to the PKK and have been involved in intense fighting with Turkish-backed forces there.
The leader of the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) previously said Öcalan's call for a dissolution does not apply to his group in Syria.
The group then reached an agreement with the central government in Damascus for a nationwide ceasefire and its merger into the Syrian army.
Despite the deal, Kurdish officials in Syria later declared their desire for a federal state, sparking tensions with the new Syrian government.
Some believe the main aim of the reconciliation effort is for Erdoğan's government to garner Kurdish support for a new constitution that would allow him to remain in power beyond 2028, when his presidential term ends.
There were around 499,000 prisoners in the EU in 2023, according to the latest Eurostat data.
This represents a 3.2% increase compared with the previous year.
Authorities anticipate that prison numbers could increase by as much as 200% between 2023 and 2027 due to political shifts.
"The prison population has been growing in Europe, especially following the discontinuation of post-COVID measures," said Idil Aydinoglu, regional programme manager at Penal Reform International.
"Several factors can be traced back to inadequate or inconsistent policies or legislative practices that result in an increase in the number of people in prisons."
Between 1993 and 2023, the highest number of prisoners was recorded in 2012, at 553,000.
One in five prisoners in the EU held foreign citizenship in the reporting country in 2023.
When comparing EU countries, the highest prisoner rates per 100,000 people in 2023 were in Poland with a prisoner rate of 203, followed by Hungary with 187 and Czechia with 181.
By contrast, the lowest rate was in Finland with 53 prisoners per 100,000 people, the Netherlands with 66 and Slovenia with 68.
In 2023, 14 countries had some extra capacity, or "empty cells", while 13 countries had overcrowded cells.
Overcrowding happens when there are more prisoners than a prison was designed to hold.
The highest overcrowding was observed in Cyprus, with an occupancy rate of 226.2, France at 122.9, and Italy at 119.1.
Meanwhile, the lowest prison occupancy rates were recorded in Estonia with an occupancy rate of 56.2, Luxembourg at 60.8, and Bulgaria at 67.7.
Overcrowding affects both people detained in prisons, as well as staff, leading to increased violence, burnout and reduced control within the facilities.
For instance, in Spain, overcrowding has reportedly enabled criminal gangs to operate more freely within prisons, while in Slovenia, access to healthcare has been severely affected, and the cancellation of 1,416 escorts has resulted in significant delays in court proceedings in 2023 due to the strain on resources.
Slovenian prisons have also seen a rise in conflicts between prisoners, with recorded incidents increasing from 207 in 2020 to 314 in 2023, according to Penal Reform International.
Serbia is "fully committed with the European accession process," said European Council President António Costa on a visit to Belgrade.
Costa met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić amid criticism of Vučić's trip to Moscow's Victory Day parade last week, adding that 'a lot of people asked me not to come.'
But he said he decided to travel to the Serbian capital to 'clarify' Vučić's visit to Moscow, saying, "We need to have a full alignment in our common foreign and security policy."
Vučić, Costa said, 'explained to me it was a moment to celebrate an event from the past."
'We cannot rewrite the history, and (we) fully understand that Serbia celebrates (its) liberation," Costa said, turning to Russia's ongoing all-out war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year.
'But we cannot celebrate the liberation 80 years ago and don't condemn an invasion of another country today.'
For his part, the Serbian president said that "Serbia and the Serbian people made a huge contribution to the victory over fascism" in World War II, and that he was in the Russian capital to celebrate that fact.
"I talked about it back in October and told everyone I was travelling. I didn't lie to anyone. I announced where I was going, unlike many others who did not announce it, so they ended up there," Vučić emphasised.
Vučić has been under significant pressure in Serbia following six months of large student-led anti-corruption protests, which erupted after a train station awning collapsed in Novi Sad on 1 November 2024, killing 16.
Vučić has also been criticised for maintaining close relations with Russia and China while formally saying that he wants Serbia to join the EU.
Serbia relies almost entirely on Russia for energy, and has refused to join Western sanctions on Russia over the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Belgrade instead has backed a UN resolution criticising Russia's attack.
From Belgrade, Costa will travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik's ongoing standoff against the state-level government has revived ethnic tensions long after a 1992-1995 war, and stalled pro-EU reforms.
Recently, Albania and Montenegro emerged as leading candidates for EU membership in the Western Balkans, while Serbia, Bosnia, Kosovo and North Macedonia remain lagging behind.