Overview
- Kosovo’s prime minister Albin Kurti said his country feels a duty to help the UK and confirmed ongoing negotiations on potential arrangements to handle people whose UK asylum claims have been rejected.
- Kurti signaled limited capacity and said Kosovo would seek stronger security and diplomatic cooperation from Britain in return.
- UK officials confirmed discussions on possible return hubs but emphasized the concept is only one option being explored to curb illegal migration and disrupt smuggling routes.
- Albania’s Edi Rama publicly ruled out hosting any hub, and Montenegro’s Milojko Spajic dismissed the idea by arguing his country is not on key migrant routes.
- Keir Starmer is hosting leaders of six Western Balkan states in London, with talks focusing on tackling smuggling networks that moved an estimated 22,000 people through the region last year, and no formal request has yet been made to Kosovo as legal hurdles are assessed.