The Swedish government said Wednesday that it was examining the possibility of sending some inmates to serve their sentences in prisons abroad, anticipating heavy pressure on its own prisons in the coming years.

Sweden has struggled in recent years to rein in shootings and bombings linked to score-settling between rival criminal gangs.

“One concrete consequence of this change is that more people will be incarcerated and for longer periods, which will lead to increased pressure on the Swedish prison system,” Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told a press conference Tuesday.

Strommer spoke on the feasibility of prisoners serving time abroad.

“Our recommendation is that this should be done within the EU or within the Schengen area,” said Mattias Wahlstedt, who headed the probe, without giving any specific examples.

This practice has already been adopted by some countries including Norway, Belgium and Denmark.