MAHMOOD SAYS EUROPE BORDER FAILINGS ERODE TRUST- Mahmood hosted a meeting of interior ministers to discuss migration routes

UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood believes that the failure to bring order to European borders is eroding trust in politicians and the concept of nation states.

Shabana Mahmood hosted a meeting of fellow interior ministers to discuss migration routes through the western Balkans. The home secretary believes that international cooperation is the way to curb irregular migration.

The summit was aimed at ensuring European nations strike new deals to tackle illegal migration. The UK Home Secretary believes that Illegal migration is a shared threat which requires a strong, joined-up international response.

The western Balkans, which includes North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina and Kosovo, has become increasingly important to tackling illegal migration across Europe.

The Home Office has claimed that the region is becoming a major transit route for people smugglers, as well as those trafficking drugs across borders, implying that 22,000 people were smuggled by gangs along routes through the western Balkans in 2024.

The summit was aimed at tackling how to crack down on the gangs, including through new cooperation between Britain, Europe and border police forces in the region.