site.btaPotential UK-North Macedonia Migrant Deal Dominates National Debate

For a third day running on Tuesday, public debate in North Macedonia was dominated by British media reports claiming that the country is in talks to take in refugees whose asylum requests have been rejected by the UK.

Media outlets in North Macedonia cited a December 5 report by The Times, stating that the UK would pay North Macedonia for each migrant it accepts, while also offering investment and support to help the country counter Russian influence.

British media report that the UK is exploring agreements with third countries for deporting migrants, despite Keir Starmer's claim to have abandoned the policy, with talks reportedly held with Kosovo and rejected by Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The issue of a possible arrival of migrants from the UK to North Macedonia was first raised in May, when Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski and UK Ambassador to Skopje Matthew Lawson presented the Strategic Partnership Agreement between North Macedonia and the United Kingdom. At the time, both dismissed reports that migrant centres would be built in the country as part of the agreement.

Earlier in the week, the opposition Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) accused Mickoski of betraying the country and trading away its sovereignty and security.

The SDSM said that, according to The Times, talks began in early autumn while Mickoski was publicly denying any plans for migrant centres, even though the reported scheme would allow migrants to seek asylum, work in North Macedonia and effectively settle there permanently.

The opposition also recalled that VMRO-DPMNE, while still in opposition, had organized protests against what it described as non-existent migrant camps, yet is now implementing the very scheme to open them. The SDSM called on the prime minister to disclose the full content of the talks with the UK and to say whether he is preparing North Macedonia to become the largest migrant centre in the Balkans in exchange for a few million euro.

The British Embassy in North Macedonia also reacted with a post on social media, stressing that the two countries have strengthened cooperation, including during the October Berlin Process meeting in the UK, through their Joint Migration Taskforce to tackle irregular migration, reinforce security and combat criminal networks, reaffirming the UK’s strong support for its NATO ally North Macedonia.

The ruling VMRO-DPMNE dismissed the claims as false, insisting that North Macedonia does not have, is not planning and is not negotiating the opening of migrant camps, and accusing its opponents of spreading lies, while VMRO-DPMNE MP and former foreign minister Antonio Milososki also denied that the country’s Strategic Partnership Agreement with the UK contains provisions for establishing refugee camps.

Milososki said major infrastructure projects, and not refugee camps, will be built. He added that the UK has signed similar post-Brexit agreements with all Western Balkan states and even with the EU to restore the legal basis for Frontex, and that North Macedonia’s cooperation with the UK is simply an additional mechanism to support efforts against organized and illegal migration.