Acting Alba Party leader Kenny MacAskill said Salmond’s family were “grateful” to the private citizen who had chartered the flight.

He said: “It brings a great deal of comfort to Moira and other members of the family to know that he will soon be home with them.

“The family have asked that their privacy be respected at this time and will be making an announcement in due course about the funeral arrangements and a memorial service to honour the life of Alex Salmond.”

The statement also thanked the North Macedonian government for expediting the process of releasing his body and both the Scottish and UK governments for their “endeavours” to put plans in place.

The Scottish government said it had been a “complex” process.

A spokesperson said: “Over the last few days the Scottish government and UK government have been engaging with Alex Salmond‘s family and working closely together in accordance with their wishes, to ensure the swift and dignified repatriation of the former first minister to Scotland.

“Having explored a number of options, the family have now made arrangements for this to take place with the support of a private citizen.”