Serbian student protesters head to Strasbourg on bicycles to seek EU support

NOVI SAD, Serbia (AP) — Serbian university students who say their fight for justice and the rule of law is being overlooked are cycling 1,300 kilometers (780 miles) toward the heart of the European Union to seek support.

Around 80 students set off on bicycles Thursday on a days-long journey to Strasbourg, France, where the European Parliament meets, aiming to draw EU attention to their months-long protests against corruption in the Balkan nation, which is seeking membership in the 27-nation bloc.

University students have been a key force behind a nationwide anti-graft movement that includes almost daily street demonstrations that have rattled the Balkan nation’s President Aleksandar Vucic. While they have garnered huge support at home, many students feel they haven't received enough support from the EU.

The cycles took off in a light, chilly rain to a noisy farewell from Novi Sad, a northern Serbian city some 90 kilometers from the capital Belgrade.

“Yes, it will be tough and we will have a hard time but I think it will be worth it,” said Ivan Poturica, a mathematics student from Novi Sad. “We expect someone to finally react to the situation in Serbia.”

The students will cycle about 100-150 kilometers (60-90 miles) per day, through Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and Germany before reaching France. Along the way, they plan to stay with the Serbs living abroad and fellow-students from the EU.

The journey will show “the students’ persistence and determination” and “make our voice heard throughout the world," they said.

The student-led protests in Serbia were triggered by the deaths of 16 people in a deadly train station canopy collapse November, widely blamed on rampant corruption, but they have since come to reflect wider discontent with Vucic's populist rule in Serbia.

Since coming to power over a decade ago, Vucic has been accused of stifling democratic freedoms while maintaining close links with Russia and China.

Protesting students have been demanding justice for the victims of the Nov. 1 canopy collapse and an end to government pressure and violence against protesters.

Those are the values the EU stands for, students say.

“I think our ideas and demands that we are taking to Strasbourg are realistic,” said medical student Bogan Jelaca. “This is why I had to join.”

Vucic and pro-government media have accused the students and their professors of working against the state, and student protesters have been attacked on numerous occasions.

The EU’s reaction to the protests has been lukewarm, and officials have refrained from criticizing Vucic. “We call on all the stakeholders to refrain from escalating further,” the EU commission’s spokesman for enlargement issues, Guillaume Mercier, told reporters last week.

Serbia “needs to deliver on EU reforms, in particular to take decisive steps towards media freedom, the fight against corruption and the electoral reform,” EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on X after a recent meeting with Vucic. “Serbia’s future lies in the EU.”

Once in Strasbourg, the students plan to visit the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.

AP writer Lorne Cook contributed to this report from Brussels.

Protesting university students prepare to set off on a cycling journey toward Strasbourg aiming to draw EU attention to their months-long protests against corruption, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

A man holds a banner reading "We are all with you" in Serbian Cyrillic as protesting university students set off on a cycling journey toward Strasbourg, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

Protesting university students set off on a cycling journey toward Strasbourg, aiming to draw EU attention to their months-long protests against corruption, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

Protesting university students set off on a cycling journey toward Strasbourg, aiming to draw EU attention to their months-long protests against corruption, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

Protesting university students set off on a cycling journey toward Strasbourg, aiming to draw EU attention to their months-long protests against corruption, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

Protesting university students and others pose for a photo as they prepare to set off on a cycling journey toward Strasbourg aiming to draw EU attention to their months-long protests against corruption, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

Protesting university students gather as they prepare to set off on a cycling journey toward Strasbourg, aiming to draw EU attention to their months-long protests against corruption, in Novi Sad, Serbia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

BOSTON (AP) — Alex Bregman hit a three-run homer and tied a career high with six RBIs, Rafael Devers went 4 for 4 and drove in three runs, and the Boston Red Sox rolled to an 18-7 win and a doubleheader sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night.

Wilyer Abreu added three RBIs for Boston, which finished with a season-best 22 hits and won its fifth straight. It was the 14th career four-hit game for Devers, who also scored four runs. Bregman had four hits for the 10th time, and Jarren Duran had three hits and scored three runs.

All that offense made for an easy night for Hunter Dobbins (1-0), who scattered five hits and gave up two runs over five innings to win his major league debut. Cooper Criswell allowed four runs in the ninth, but went three innings for his first save.

St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas (0-1) permitted nine runs — eight earned — and 11 hits in 2 2/3 innings. Thomas Saggaese hit a three-run homer in the ninth and Brendan Donovan had three hits and two RBIs for the Cardinals. St. Louis extended a team record with its ninth straight game getting at least 10 hits.

In the makeup of Saturday's rainout, Abreu singled off the Green Monster to drive in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Red Sox rallied for a 5-4 victory in the opener. Devers, who began the season 0 for 21 with 15 strikeouts, hit his first homer of the year.

Pedro Pagés replaced St. Louis catcher Iván Herrera in the first game after he exited with left knee inflammation. In an interview on the ESPN broadcast, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said initial testing came back clean and Herrera’s knee was structurally sound. But he added the inflammation will require a stint on the injured list.

Boston took control in the second, scoring five runs on an RBI single by Ceddanne Rafaela and two-run doubles by Bregman and Abreu. Mikolas threw 41 of his 81 pitches during the inning. The Red Sox had another five-run inning in the sixth.

The Red Sox scored five runs in the second and four in the third. It marked the first time they scored four or more runs in back-to-back innings since Aug. 24, 2023, at Houston, and the first time at Fenway Park since Sept. 27, 2022, against Baltimore.

LHP Matthew Liberatore (0-0, 4.50 ERA) will start as the Cardinals open a three-game series Monday in Pittsburgh. The Red Sox had not announced a starting pitcher for the opener of their four-game series against Toronto.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Michael Siani chases the ball after Boston Red Sox's Carlos Narváez hit for a double in the seventh inning during the second baseball game of a doubleheader, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Pedro Pagés, left, meets with pitcher Gordon Graceffo (44) on the mound in the seventh inning during the second baseball game of a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox's Alex Bregman hits a three-run home run in the third inning during the second baseball game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas throws in the first inning during the second baseball game of a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox's Alex Bregman gestures as he rounds the base after hitting a three-run homer in the third inning during the second baseball game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox pitcher Hunter Dobbins throws in the first inning during the second baseball game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cadinals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox's Trevor Story, left, and Alex Bregman, right, celebrate Bregman's three-run homer in the third inning during the second baseball game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Thomas Saggese, left, tags out Boston Red Sox's Romy Gonzalez (23) in the seventh inning during the first baseball game of a doubleheader, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox's Rafael Devers, right, high fives teammate Alex Bregman, left, after Devers hit a home run in the fifth inning during the first baseball game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox's Rafael Devers dons a mascot head in the dugout after hitting a home run in the fifth inning during the first baseball game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox's Rafael Devers (11) gestures as he runs the bases after hitting a home run in the fifth inning during the first baseball game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox's Romy Gonzalez, right, reacts after getting tagged out by St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Thomas Saggese, left, in the seventh inning during the first baseball game of a doubleheader, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

St. Louis Cardinals' Pedro Pagés hits for a double in the sixth inning during the first baseball game of a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)