The Republika Srpska (RS) entity President Milorad Dodik told the Radio Television of RS he would not allow the relocation of migrants in RS. According to him, some 180,000 migrants will come near the Bosnian border. Should they get the Bosnian citizenship, they could live where ever they want in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is a problem for RS.

“We don’t want to be in a position where some 50,000-100,000 migrants are stationed here. Our data says at least 180,000 migrants will approach the border, which is an immense pressure for RS,” Dodik said.

He confirmed that the RS will implement the policy that the migrants go through RS as fast as possible. He suggests they be stationed in the other Bosnian entity, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH).

“But even that is dangerous for us. Three years after they receive asylum, those migrants could get the Bosnian citizenship. Should they get it, they could move freely across the country and resolve their property and other issues. That could create a series of problems,” Dodik told the reporter interviewing him. “Only the naive believe that this is a humanitarian issue. No, its’not! This is an essential issue.”

According to him, there is a “hidden Sarajevo structure” which wants to settle the Syrian, Afghan and other, primarily Muslim, migrants in order to “strengthen their (Bosniak) position here and then, in some four, five, 10 years say that there is a clear Bosniak, meaning Muslim majority in the country. That’s the idea, that’s what the (official) Sarajevo is doing.”

Milorad Dodik is the Leader of the Party of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) which is the ruling party in the Serb-dominated RS entity.