BELGRADE - Those who threw objects at Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic at Gazimestan on Saturday were "in fact targeting Serbia, causing unforeseeable damage to everyone and eroding the reputation of our country", the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has said in a statement.

"The Serbian Progressive Party vehemently condemns today's attacks against the President of the Republic of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic. The insulting chants and primitive attacks are a disgrace, not only to those who today treated the Serbian president in such an uncivilised manner, but also to Serbia," the SNS said in a statement on Saturday.

The SNS will do its utmost and fight every day for Serbia to become a modern and orderly society in which incidents such as this one will merely represent a distant, ugly past, the statement said.

President Nikolic held a speech at the ceremony marking Saint Vitus' Day at Gazimestan on Saturday, but was forced to break off his speech at one point because of extremist groups that booed and shouted out inappropriate remarks.