Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik said at the opening of an event in Banja Luka, administrative centre of Bosnia's Republika Srpska entity, that he is proud of “shameful” US sanctions and he reiterated the secession threats.

“If we need to break apart in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we will do that in a peaceful way. We will wait. As long as needed, but we will wait. At the end of the road we will get out of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We do not with to be a part of it, it is the problem of our existence here,” said Dodik, adding that Republika Srpska would be “a lot more developed and better if there was no BiH.”

Speaking of Bosnia's European path, Dodik said that the European Union wants to centralise BiH but that “it won't happen.”

Republika Srpska has never before had more “visible friends,” according to Dodik.

“I am proud of the shameful American sanctions and that I do not need to communicate with them. We will be building the relations with friends,” he stressed, mentioning Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the “Chinese who invest here.”

As for Sarajevo, Dodik said he does not consider it a capital city.

“Republika Srpska is turned towards Serbia in every sense. Our capital city is Belgrade, not Sarajevo. And our other capital city is Banja Luka, not Sarajevo, we don't see it as a city,” said Dodik.