Russian President Dmitry Medvedev instructed the government on Monday to amend national programs on patriotic upbringing among youth to prevent possible interethnic conflicts in the future.
"The Russian government must evaluate programs on patriotic upbringing among the youth and introduce proposals on corrections to the programs," Medvedev said.
The Russian capital saw its biggest public disturbances for almost a decade when a 5,000-strong crowd of nationalists and football hooligans, mostly young people, clashed with police at Manezh Square in downtown Moscow on December 11.
The clash was followed on December 15 by further disturbances as ethnic Russians and internal migrants gathered for a confrontation near a major train terminus in Moscow. Race-hate riots also occurred in St. Petersburg and other large Russian cities.
Medvedev also urged the government "to systematize and expand work on building a modern infrastructure that will provide youth with free-time possibilities, primarily among teenagers, including from problem families."
MOSCOW, December 27 (RIA Novosti)
