Government bodies are expected to establish if the riots caused in Belgrade during a Gay Pride parade this last Sunday were organised by the same people who instigated the rioting of Serbian soccer fans at a match between Italy and Serbia in Genoa on Tuesday.
Sixteen people were injured in the riots before and during the Italy-Serbia match in the Euro 2012 qualifier Group C, the Italian police arrested 17 Serbian soccer fans, and the Serbian police arrested another 19 upon their return to Serbia.
This is naked violence and it has nothing to do with sports, Samardzic Markovic said, expressing regret that "the Council for National Security convened only on Wednesday, even though this is a question of national security of the utmost importance", the Serbian news agency Tanjug reported.
The session of the Council for National Security was called and presided over by President Boris Tadic, who later in the day apologised to Italian PM Berlusconi over the telephone.
The Council for National Security established that the security situation in Serbia is stable regardless of the riots in Belgrade and Genoa, Minister of the Interior Ivica Dacic said on Thursday.
Dacic said that there was not enough information to prove that the riots in Belgrade and in Italy were organised by the same people.
The Serbian parliament's committee on defence and security was to hold an extraordinary session later in the afternoon to discuss the riots in Belgrade and Genoa.
Speaking of measures the government was taking to fight violence, Samardzic Markovic cited the establishment of a council for combating violence, the adoption of an action plan, and the adoption of legislative changes regarding rioting at sports events.
As of now, groups causing violence will be regarded as organised and will be treated in court accordingly, the sports minister said.