Overview

• Security officials warned that hubs built on critical UK infrastructure in the western Balkans could be infiltrated by agents working for the Kremlin.
• Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are among the countries Britain is considering to host return hubs after rejected asylum claims are exhausted.
• The initiative forms part of a broader strategy to curb small-boat Channel crossings, which reached over 13,500 this year, marking a 37% increase from the same period last year.
• Experts caution that Kosovo’s disputed independence and lack of European Convention on Human Rights membership pose significant legal and diplomatic obstacles.
• Ministers aim to announce final hub locations by the time Britain convenes western Balkan leaders in London this autumn.