Britain has been extended a migrant crisis olive branch as Kosovo's Prime Minister has said he "wants to help the UK" by offering to accept the UK's rejected asylum seekers.
Albin Kurti said he wants to help Britain combat illegal immigration in return for more support to strengthen its national security against Serbian and Russian threats.
Mr Kurti spoke before a summit of Western Balkan leaders, hosted by Sir Keir in London on Wednesday, where he said talks were ongoing between British and Kosovo officials.
The move makes Kosovo the first country to express its interest in Sir Keir's plan to establish a series of return hubs where rejected asylum seekers would be sent after they have exhausted all avenues of appeal in the UK.
The topic of return hubs was not the summit's formal agenda, however, Sir Keir hopes to open talks with some of the attending countries.
Montenegro’s Prime Minister Milojko Spajic said his country would be open to having a return hub agreement.
That would only happen if Britain invested significantly in its infrastructure.
Bosnia and Herzegovina's presidency - three members, serving as head of state - said the country had "no intention, nor any willingness, to enter into any agreement".
Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti said his country was willing to help Britain's migrant crisis
|GETTY
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama was adamant about whether his country would take part in the hubs.
"I repeat ... Never in Albania," he said.
The Times had previously reported that Britain had approached Kosovo and North Macedonia, along with other nations outside Europe, to open return hubs.
Mr Kurti said his Government had an "obligation" to repay Britain for its leading role in the peacekeeping force that protected the country against Slobodan Milosevic's regime in the 1990s.
Sir Keir Starmer is establishing relationships in a bid to have return hubs for asylum seekers
| PAAsked whether Kosovo was willing to accept migrants from Britain, Mr Kurti added: "We want to help the UK".
"We consider that is our friendly and political duty," he said.
"We have limited capacity, but still we want to help and as we speak there is regular communication between our teams of state officials from our ministry of internal affairs and lawyers about how to do this smoothly for mutual benefit."
Mr Kurti said he expected extra support from Britain regarding security equipment and intelligence-sharing to combat Serbian and Russian threats.
The proposed return hubs are different from offshore processing, which the Conservatives had proposed with the Rwanda scheme.
Individuals would only be sent to a return hub if their claim for asylum in the UK had been rejected, and they were awaiting deportation.
The Government hopes by sending them to a third country it will prevent people trying to delay the process of removal and deter people from coming on small boats.
According to the Oxford Migration Observatory, only three per cent of arrivals on small boats between 2018-24 were returned from the UK.
However, removals of failed migrants from all routes has increased in the last year.
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