US Balkan allies to host Afghan refugee processing operations

Even before the Taliban had completed its occupation of Kabul, American allies Albania and Kosovo told Washington that they would serve as transit countries for Afghan refugees eventually bound for the US. 
Responding almost immediately to the request from the Biden administration, Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama indicated on August 15 that Albania would provide Washington any assistance needed.   
Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani said her government had been in contact with the U.S. authorities over the refugee transit issue since mid-July and would cooperate fully with Washington. 
North Macedonia announced on August 17 that it would also be assisting the US in the refugee processing effort. The country has agreed to host 450 refugees from Afghanistan, including some journalists and human rights activists; their quarantine status will be linked to their vaccination status, the government announced. 
All three countries have agreed to serve as processing points while US officials review the special immigrant visa applications required by US law in order to admit Afghans who worked for US Government agencies, mostly the State and Defense Departments, over the past 20 years.  
Kosovo in particular can provide access to a number of important facilities at Camp Bondsteel, a massive still-operational US facility that has been steadily downsized in recent years.  In addition, Kosovo has a substantial number of workers who have worked extensively with American defense contractors in support jobs at US bases in the Balkans and the Middle East, including Afghanistan.  In total, Camp Bondsteel has the potential to become a major processing hub for the US resettlement effort. 
Washington has reportedly asked Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan to host US visa processing operations, but little progress has been announced. A separate negotiation with Qatar is also reportedly making better progress. 
In Washington and Brussels, any transport of Muslim refugees to Southeast Europe brings to mind the unfortunate history of several jihadist terrorist cells that successfully transplanted themselves into Bosnia in previous decades, so authorities will be careful to control the conditions in which temporary refugees can move around freely.