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UK advances Balkan migrant return hubs despite MI6 security warnings

Informal discussions are under way with Kosovo and other Balkan states following intelligence warnings of possible Kremlin infiltration

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Sir Keir Starmer has described the hubs as “a really important innovation”

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.