The countries of the West are undergoing a socio-demographic agony. For this condition, the blame lies with them alone. The citizens of Western states were promised a multicultural utopia—successful integration of foreigners, economic growth and development, and an improved standard and quality of life. A continual march toward something better was promised. Carried along by the arrogance born of fortunate historical circumstances in the twentieth century, the West embraced the illusion of the superiority of its own culture and the universality of its particular values as though these were objective realities. From this arrogance sprang the belief that foreigners – bearers of foreign cultures, behavioral patterns, and traditions – could be assimilated without significant difficulty, or that they were, in essence, inferior.

The contemporary migrant crisis engulfing the European continent – particularly its western part—most vividly reflects the current crisis of the West, which is evolving from the relatively simple issues of migration, economics, and demography into a far more serious crisis of identity, both for Western states and for the peoples who inhabit them. Will the United Kingdom still be what it is today when, according to the latest research, the native population becomes a minority by the year 2070?

The British government’s possible plan to return fifty thousand migrants – not to their countries of origin, but to the Balkans—is both an implicit admission of failure and a reflection of realpolitik calculation. The decades-long migration policy of Western nations was a mistake, yet the relocation of migrants to the Balkans represents an attempt to repurpose even that mistake for the realpolitik objectives of London’s imperial foreign policy – that is, to exploit this human element as a tool of hybrid warfare and a means of destabilizing a region primarily inhabited by Serbs.

Migrants are a security problem, especially in the context of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the radical Islamist structures that exist within it. Given that we are speaking of tens of thousands of individuals, it is inevitable that among them would be found willing recruits for terrorist and criminal organizations. At the same time, the migrant issue is not limited to questions of security, but penetrates deeply into matters of demography, culture, identity, population composition, and the homogeneity of the national collective – as a key precondition for a secure community.

The position of the institutions of Republic of Srpska on this matter is clear and, more importantly, correct. That position once again affirms that the sense of sovereignty and statehood within Bosnia and Herzegovina exists primarily in Republic of Srpska, which refuses to become a dumping ground for other people’s problems for the sake of fleeting and nebulous political promises and supposed concessions – especially in the context of progress toward European Union membership, the meaning of which, objectively viewed, grows more questionable with each passing day.

The issue of migrants is not a matter of daily political narrative, but a long-term problem. Through modern means of communication, we are witnessing the devastating consequences of the failed migration policies of Western states, and of their treatment of migration not only as a social, but also as a political phenomenon. It is no coincidence that American political scientist Kelly Greenhill, in her study of migration, highlighted the existence of politically motivated migratory movements, which she termed “”weapons of mass migration.”

Migration and migrants do not represent a solution to the challenges faced by the countries of the Balkans. On the contrary, Western experience shows that they often serve as sources of further social destabilization. It is in the interest of the Serbian people to continue investing in pro-natalist policies, in strengthening rural households and communities – not merely as agricultural holdings, but more broadly as desirable spaces for living – to persist in efforts to bring back those who have emigrated; and to return the Serbian nation to those social, cultural, and traditional patterns that are truly native to us and which emerged as expressions of our historical experience and existence.

Objectively speaking, there is neither need nor justification for transferring other people’s problems onto the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, whether we speak of its entities or of the country as a whole. Otherwise, Republic of Srpska has both the right and the duty toward its citizens to continue developing its own capacities for the sake of preserving security and social stability. The migrant crisis is shaking Europe – and it will continue to do so – but the responsibility for resolving this problem lies with those who created it, and that is certainly not the countries of the Balkans.