Vice President Joe Biden said he expects the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be closed when he and President Obama exit office at the end of January.

It is "my hope and expectation" that it "will be closed before I leave office," Biden said Thursday during a news conference with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven in Stockholm.

This month, the Obama administration transferred 15 prisoners to the United Arab Emirates, which reduced the prison's population to 61.

Congress has blocked Obama from moving detainees to the U.S., so he has sought to transfer as many prisoners as possible to fulfill his campaign pledge of closing the controversial prison.