Podgorica (Montenegro) (AFP)
Tobacco is banned since Wednesday in closed public places in Montenegro, a small Balkan country of 650,000 inhabitants where one in three adults smoke, a proportion among the highest in Europe.
This prohibition does not apply to casinos, however, according to the new legislation, which provides that the offenses will be punished by fines ranging from 500 to 20,000 euros.
This text also regulates the sale of cigarettes and tobacco, as well as the appearance of packaging and the printing on packages of warnings against the danger of tobacco.
In cafes in the "City", a popular district in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica, warnings about the ban on smoking are visible and ashtrays have deserted the tables, said an AFP journalist.
"Fines are important and we must respect the ban," says Milan, a waiter in a bar.
But some are pestering. "This law is hypocritical, and if adopted for reasons of health, casinos should not have been exempted," for example, Dusan, a client.
Smoking will be allowed only in rooms specially designed for this purpose, with an area greater than 10 m2 and which will be physically separated from other premises.
In Montenegro, one in three adults smoke (35.4%), according to the Montenegrin Institute of Public Health. It is one of the highest smoking rates in Europe, says the World Health Organization (WHO).
The authorities of this country that wants to join the European Union had already passed a smoke-free law in 2004, but it was not respected. A 2012 regulation requiring restaurant owners to pay additional taxes if smoking was allowed in their establishment did not yield any results either.
"The ministry will enforce every section of the law that has just come into effect," said Minister of Health Kenan Hrapovic.
Lung cancer is detected every year among some 400 inhabitants of Montenegro and the cost of medical treatment for each of these patients is 70,000 euros, according to the Ministry of Health.
Before Montenegro, two other Balkan countries, a region where smoking is still widespread, Croatia and North Macedonia, have banned tobacco in closed public places.
© 2019 AFP