Smoking ban

The health ministry is starting to listen about proposals from the non-government sector to impose more drastic sanctions for breaching the ban on smoking in indoor public places. In the event of a systematic breach of the smoking ban, the facility will be shut down for a specified period of time. This includes amendments to the Health Act, prepared by the Ministry of Health.

The price of a pack of cigarettes in New York City is going up - to at least $13 - and the number of places you can buy them is going down under legislation signed Aug. 28 by the mayor.

The new minimum price law, which takes effect on June 1, will make New York the most expensive place in the U.S. to buy cigarettes, Health Department officials said.

Macedonian MPs are proposing amendments to the current strict anti-smoking law to allow smoking inside cafés and restaurants if they meet certain conditions and have enough space for a special smoking section, no larger than 30 per cent of the entire establishment.

Turkey will introduce a new smoking ban that will extend the smoke-free zones of restaurants to semi-closed parts of restaurants and cafes. 

Turkish Health Minister Recep Akdağ announced that they would introduce new regulations in 2017 to promote healthy life that will include steps against tobacco and tobacco products. 

Shortly after the midnight on Wednesday, Alina Tronaru regretfully stubbed out her last cigarette in a restaurant.

Together with some other friends, the 32-year-old joined a "farewell" party for smokers in a fancy restaurant in downtown Bucharest.

She is not giving up smoking, however, just giving up smoking in public places.

One of the significant changes in Turkish social life under the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is the smoking ban in public spaces. The first step of this ban came out in 2009, forcing all restaurants and hotels to ban smoking in all closed spaces. Many people at the time believed the ban would never work as Turkey is a heavily smoking nation. But on the whole it did.

Turkey will extend a smoking ban previously issued for indoor areas to outdoors, the Turkish health minister has announced, as President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an wages a large-scale war against the habit.

Serbia will next year enact new legislation to ban on smoking in all enclosed public places, a Belgrade-based daily is reporting.

According to Blic, this will be done through amendments to the Law on Protection of the Population from Exposure to Tobacco Smoke, and will also apply to all restaurants, bars, and cafes.

"Parks are among the few smoke-free places here," says Larisa Marinescu, 32, pushing a stroller with her eight-month-old girl round a park in Bucharest.

"It is very difficult to find a non-smoking place to eat with a child. This is not normal," she adds.

Marinescu is one of many Romanians who are strongly opposed to smoking.

Bulgaria has the second highest number of smokers in Europe and ranks sixth in the world in this respect.

According to the latest Eurobarometer, which was released on Friday, 35 % of Bulgarians smoke, being preceded only by the Greeks, where the share of the smoking population is 38 %.