A delegation of diplomats went to express their serious concern about violence committed against African and Asian nationals, as well as foreign diplomatic personnel, the Swedish Ambassador told a press conference after a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov on Saturday, May 18th. The delegation was told what steps were being taken to address the problem and were reminded that a bill to combat terrorism is waiting to be read in the Duma. During a break from a session of Central Federal Districts in Kaluga, Moscow's Mayor Yuri Lushkov acknowledged that there is a threat of extremism in Moscow. In such attacks skinheads target foreigners; especially those with different-colored skin, he said according to Russian wire Interfax. The mayor's comments came as Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov met with foreign diplomats in Moscow to discuss the problem of racist attacks in Russia. Speaking at a press conference after the meeting, the Swedish Ambassador Sven Hirdman said that the delegation of diplomats went to express their serious concern about violence committed against African and Asian nationals, as well as foreign diplomatic personnel. The foreign minister assured the diplomatic delegation that the Russian Interior Ministry is taking the necessary measures to address the skinhead phenomenon, the foreign minister's official representative told Russian wire RIA-Novosti, Saturday. According to Ambassador Hirdman, the Russian foreign minister stressed the significance of a bill on combating extremism, which is currently in the Duma and listed the measures being taken by both the Interior Ministry and the Prosecutor-General's Office to counter the problem. Mr. Ivanov and the delegation were in agreement that consultations, prompted by a report giving details of instances in which embassy employees have been assaulted that was sent to Mr. Ivanov by foreign diplomats on April 19th, will be held in the future. Moscow's Chief of Police Vladimir Pronin played down the issue on Saturday. Noting that no cases of extremism, hooliganism or nationalism were registered as taking place in Moscow on May 1st when there were demonstrations in Red Square, he recommended that the European ambassadors pay more attention to what happens on the streets in their own countries. He noted that anti-globalists and other people were far from peaceful in Paris and Berlin on the same day. That 81 cases of attacks on foreigners were registered in the first four months of 2002 does not come as a surprise to the head of the Moscow Police. "This is a regular figure," he told Interfax on Saturday. If he means that it's nothing new, he has a point, in the same period for 2001, 86 attacks were reported. The police service details forwarded to the Russian law enforcement bodies of instances did not tell them anything they didn't already know according to Mr. Pronin. He said the report, which has already been thoroughly examined contains facts, which the police are already aware of. Unfazed by the fact that such racist-motivated violence is a regular occurrence, the chief said that the police is prepared to ensure order and security for both foreign and Russian citizens. The seriousness of the situation was not lost on Yuri Lushkov however. He said: "Anxiety is justified in this instance, although the media exaggerates the problem of extremism far too often." Our task is to resolve this problem to make Moscow safe for foreigners once again. "