Serbia's president talks with Putin and vows he'll never impose sanctions on Russia

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — European Union candidate Serbia will continue to refuse to impose sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine despite Western pressure, Serbia’s leader said after his telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday.

Populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Instagram that he believes the call, what he said was his first in more than two years with the Russian president, will help “further development of relations and trust between Russia and Serbia.”

“We talked as people who have known each other for a long time, as friends, and the ten-minute conversation was marked by a personal note, and we also talked about those who are weak (pro-Western) leaders,” Vucic said.

He did not say whether he would accept an earlier invitation by Putin to attend a BRICS summit of emerging economies, led by Russia and China, in Kazan later this week.

Although formally seeking EU membership, traditional Russian Slavic ally Serbia has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine though it has reluctantly condemned Moscow’s aggression. Vucic has said that imposing the sanctions wasn’t in Serbia’s national interest.

He said Sunday he expects criticism from the West of his conversation with Putin, but stated that “Serbia is a sovereign country which makes its own decisions.”

He also thanked Russia “for providing sufficient quantities of gas for Serbia at favorable prices.” Serbia was almost completely dependent on the Russian gas but has recently agreed to start to diversify its supplies.

Serbia, which was never part of the Soviet bloc, on Sunday marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of its capital Belgrade from the Nazi World War II occupation, which was accomplished mostly thanks to former Yugoslavia’s communist partisans, but also the Soviet Red Army.

Belgrade’s nationalist authorities marked the liberation date with a display of the pro-Russian sentiment, with thousands marching through Belgrade waving Russian flags and chanting slogans.

At a meeting marking the anniversary, Vucic delivered a speech in the Russian language, which he said is a sign of respect for the Red Army, without which “there would not have been the liberation of Belgrade.”

A man holds an old Yugoslav Communists' flag, top, and an old Serbian flag with the communist five-point star during the ceremony on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade from Nazi occupation in WWII by Soviet and local communist fighters, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

People hold pictures of relatives killed in WWII during a ceremony on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade from Nazi occupation in WWII by Soviet and local communist fighters, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

A man holds an old Yugoslav Communists' flag, top, and an old Serbian flag with the communist five-point star during a ceremony on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade from Nazi occupation in WWII by Soviet and local communist fighters, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

A man waves a flag that shows Russian, left, and Serbian flags during a ceremony on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade from Nazi occupation in WWII by Soviet and local communist fighters, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

People march with portraits of relatives who were killed in World War II behind a banner that reads: "Immortal Regiment Serbia", during the ceremony on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade from Nazi occupation in WWII by Soviet and local communist fighters, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

People hold a flag of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and pictures of relatives killed in WWII during the ceremony on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade from Nazi occupation in WWII by Soviet and local communist fighters, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

People hold a giant Serbian flag during the ceremony on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade from Nazi occupation in WWII by Soviet and local communist fighters, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Georgia authorities said Sunday they are investigating the “catastrophic failure” of a dock gangway that collapsed and killed seven on Sapelo Island, where crowds had gathered for a fall celebration by the island’s tiny Gullah-Geechee community of Black slave descendants.

“It is a structural failure. There should be very, very little maintenance to an aluminum gangway like that, but we’ll see what the investigation unfolds,” Georgia Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Walter Rabon said at a news conference.

The gangway was installed in 2021, authorities said.

Rabon said three people remained hospitalized in critical condition from Saturday's collapse.

Rabon said “upwards of 40 people” were on the gangway when the “catastrophic failure” occurred, and at least 20 people fell into the water. The gangway connected an outer dock where people board the ferry to another dock onshore.

None of the seven people killed were residents of the island, Rabon said. Eight people were taken to hospitals, at least six of them were initially reported Saturday to have critical injuries.

The ferry dock was rebuilt after Georgia officials in October 2020 settled a federal lawsuit by residents of the tiny community of Hogg Hummock, who complained the state-operated ferry boats and docks they rely upon to travel between Sapelo Island the mainland failed to meet federal accessibility standards for people with disabilities.

The state agreed to demolish and replace outdated docks while upgrading ferry boats to accommodate people in wheelchairs and those with impaired hearing. The state also paid a cash settlement of $750,000.

Crews from the U.S. Coast Guard, the McIntosh County Fire Department, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and others searched the water, according to Natural Resources spokesperson Tyler Jones. The agency operates the dock and ferry boats that transport people between the island and the mainland.

A team of engineers and construction specialists were on site early Sunday to begin investigating why the walkway failed, Jones said.

“There was no collision” with a boat or anything else, Jones said. “The thing just collapsed. We don’t know why.”

Helicopters and boats with side-scanning sonar were used in the search, according to a Department of Natural Resources statement.

Among the dead was a chaplain for the state agency, Jones said.

President Joe Biden said federal officials were ready to provide any assistance needed.

Sapelo Island is about 60 miles (97 kilometers) south of Savannah, reachable from the mainland by boat.

The deadly collapse happened as island residents, family members and tourists gathered for Cultural Day, an annual fall event spotlighting Hogg Hummock, home to a few dozen Black residents. The community of dirt roads and modest homes was founded after the Civil War by former slaves from the cotton plantation of Thomas Spalding.

Hogg Hummock’s slave descendants are extremely close, having been “bonded by family, bonded by history and bonded by struggle,” said Roger Lotson, the only Black member of the McIntosh County Board of Commissioners. His district includes Sapelo Island.

“Everyone is family, and everyone knows each other,” Lotson said. “In any tragedy, especially like this, they are all one. They’re all united. They all feel the same pain and the same hurt.”

Small communities descended from enslaved island populations in the South — known as Gullah, or Geechee in Georgia — are scattered along the coast from North Carolina to Florida. Scholars say their separation from the mainland caused residents to retain much of their African heritage, from their unique dialect to skills and crafts such as cast-net fishing and basket-weaving.

In 1996, Hogg Hummock, also known as Hog Hammock, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, the official list of the United States’ treasured historic sites.

But the community’s population has been shrinking for decades, and some families have sold their land to outsiders who built vacation homes.

Tax increases and zoning changes by the local government in McIntosh County have been met by protests and lawsuits by Hogg Hummock residents and landowners. They have been battling for the past year to undo zoning changes approved by county commissioners in September 2023 that doubled the size of homes allowed in Hogg Hummock.

Residents say they fear larger homes will lead to tax increases that could force them to sell land that their families have held for generations.

Emily Wagster Pettus reported from Jackson, Mississippi.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Walter Rabon addresses the media at the Sapelo island visitors center, alongside Georgia State Rep. Buddy DeLoach, Rep. Al Williams, Ga House Speaker Jon Burns and McIntosh Sheriffs Stephen Jesup Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Levine)

A portion of the gangway which collapsed Saturday afternoon remains visible on Sapelo Island in McIntosh county, Ga., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Levine)

A portion of the gangway which collapsed Saturday afternoon remains visible on Sapelo Island in McIntosh county, Ga., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Levine)

FILE - The sun rises over Sapelo Island, Ga., a Gullah-Geechee community, on June 10, 2013. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Captain Chris Hodge speaks during a news conference after a gangway collapse on Sapelo Island, Ga in McIntosh county, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis M. Levine)

A hearse heads to Meridian Dock in McIntosh county where several people after a gangway collapsed plunging them into the water, on Sapelo Island, Ga in McIntosh county, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis M. Levine)

Festival goers who attended a Gullah Geechee festival on Sapelo Island leave the Elm Grove Church where they were taken to reunite with loved ones on Sapelo Island, Ga in McIntosh county, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis M. Levine)