UK has not asked about asylum return hubs, other Balkan countries say

Two other Balkan countries seen as potential destinations for UK migrant returns say they have not been asked by the UK.

Sir Keir Starmer revealed on Thursday at a news conference with the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama that the UK "is in talks with a number of countries about return hubs". But the president of Kosovo and prime minister of North Macedonia - both in the western Balkans, a key migration route from Asia and Africa - told Sky News they had not been asked.

Politics latest: Latest votes on assisted dying Vjosa Osmani, the president of Kosovo, said: "There's been no formal talks with the UK on this issue. It hasn't been raised so far.

"We would be open to discussing it, however I can't say more than that because I don't know the details. I cannot give an answer on a request that hasn't been made so far." Ms Osmani called the UK a "steadfast ally".

UK-supplied technology is being used in Kosovo to stop illicit goods and vulnerable people from reaching British shores. The prime minister of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, said: "I'm not informed about this.

We should talk with the United Kingdom prime minister later today." Asked if formal talks had begun, he said: "No, not yet." Read more:Starmer 'discussing' hubs with othersWas Albanian snub an embarrassment? Close to 22,000 people used the Western Balkans to enter Europe last year, the Foreign Office said earlier this year. There are reports the UK is in talks with as many as nine countries.

There are six countries in the Western Balkans, which are seen as central to UK efforts to tackling illegal migration. Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro are the others, alongside Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia.

David Lammy, the foreign secretary, visited Kosovo last month and on the same trip, he signed an agreement with Serbia to crack down on smuggling gangs. Kosovo, one of Europe's poorest countries, has agreed a deal with Denmark to take 300 of its foreign prisoners to serve out their sentences before deportation - in return for 200 million euros.

The deal, struck in 2021, is not up and running yet. ???? Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app ???? On Thursday, the Albanian prime minister publicly slapped down the idea of a UK returns hub in his country, saying their agreement with Italy was a "one-off" deal for Rome - their key ally.

Mr Rama voiced his displeasure with how Albanians had been "stigmatised" in the UK. Chris Philp, the Conservative shadow home secretary, has accused the UK's prime minister of being "panic mode" over small boat crossings this year - and restated his stance that the Rwanda deportation scheme should be revived.

Sir Keir later met Mr Mickoski for a one-to-one chat at the summit. Return hubs were not mentioned in the readout of their conversation.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said the countries had "signalled an intent to work more closely on shared challenges, including economic growth, trade, defence and security". "The leaders also discussed North Macedonia's recent agreement to join the Joint Migration Taskforce, further boosting regional cooperation to prevent irregular migrants transiting the Balkans and disrupting the criminal gangs that facilitate them.".