Kosovo's acting government said it is willing to "temporarily" accept migrants deported from the United States as part of resettling them to a third country.

Perparim Kryeziu, a spokesman for the acting government, told RFE/RL's Kosovo Service in a statement on June 11 that up to 50 people over a one-year period "may be temporarily relocated in the country with the aim of facilitating their safe return to their country of origin."

"The government has expressed its willingness to engage, with the possibility of selecting individuals from a proposed list, as long as they meet certain criteria related to the rule of law and public order, he added.

Last week the US government announced that countries in the Balkans have been included in contacts within a broader US strategy for the deportation of foreign nationals.

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Bloomberg News reported on June 5 that the Trump administration was pressuring Serbia and other Balkan countries to accept migrants deported by the United States.

Last month, the US Supreme Court allowed the administration to revoke temporary legal status for hundreds of thousands of migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua living in the United States, strengthening the Republican president's efforts to increase deportations.

The housing of migrants has been a controversial topic in Kosovo -- one of Europe's poorest countries that hopes such plans will bring it income -- and around the Balkans in recent months.

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Kosovo had already expressed its willingness to discuss withthe United Kingdoma proposal to establish "return centers" in Kosovo for asylum seekers rejected by the British Isles.

The proposal to set up return centers is part of a wider UK strategy to address the growing number of migrants arriving in Britain through illegal routes.

However,Human Rights Watchhas expressed concern that using Balkan countries as host countries for migrants could violate their rights and create new challenges for host countries.

In a similar agreement that also sparked criticism, Kosovo and Denmark agreed in 2022 to lease 300 prison cells at the Correctional Institution in Gjilan to house foreign prisoners who are expected to be deported from Denmark after completing their sentences.