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Croatia Update
Croatia gives up on smoking ban 9 October 2009 Croatia has abandoned a ban on smoking in cafés and restaurants only five months after it was introduced. Owners of small cafés can now decide themselves whether to allow smoking or not. When the ban was introduced in May, it met with widespread protests. Café owners were afraid they would lose customers. The Croatian press has slammed the lifting of the ban. The newspaper Jutarnji List describes it as “a victory of café owners over common sense”. The smoking ban continues to apply to schools and hospitals. Read
Croatian smoking ban loosened up
11 September 2009
Plans to strictly enforce a smoking ban in Croatia have been watered down by the government.
After complaints from some businesses that it would be bad for them, smoking will be allowed to continue under certain conditions in bars and restaurants, which could appeal to holidaymakers from countries such as the UK where public bans are now in place.
Health minister Darko Milinovic said that the law was not being changed due to "any pressure".
"We are still taking care of Croatia's public interest," he said.
Cafes that are smaller than 50 square metres will reportedly be allowed to decide themselves whether they will be smoking or non-smoking, while larger establishments will have to have a smoking zone that takes up less than 20 per cent of the surface area.
Smoking in public places has been banned in Croatia since May, but many cafe and restaurant owners have suggested that it is ruining their business.
It is believed that around a third of Croatian nationals smoke. Read
Smokers can hit the cafes again
ZAGREB – The Croatian government moved on Thursday to loosen a controversial public smoking ban enforced only four months ago, after cafe owners complained it was crippling business.
According to a new proposal, due in parliament later this month, smoking in cafes will be allowed in special spaces that must be larger than 10 square meters (12 sq yards) but must not cover more than 20 percent of the overall premises.
The cafes unable to meet those conditions will be able to cater for smokers if they secure a proper ventilation system, a change likely to be welcomed by the country's more than one million smokers, or almost 25 percent of the population.
The smoking ban remains in force for restaurants, hospitals, schools and airports.
Cafe and restaurant owners launched a petition in June, at the start of the summer tourist season, demanding changes to the law, enforced in May, which they said was hurting business already weakened by a recession.
Health Minister Darko Milinovic told a cabinet session the changes were jointly drafted by the guild of cafe and restaurant owners and the tourism ministry.
"We are not changing the law under pressure and we remain committed to preserving the health of Croat citizens," Milinovic said. Health officials say more than 13,000 people die of smoking in Croatia every year.
During the last four months, Croatia has been the only Balkan country where smoking indoors has been effectively outlawed. With the latest changes, the smoking regime will be almost as liberal as in the rest of the region.
Croatia has been severely hit by the global crisis and its economy is expected to shrink around five percent this year, for the first time in a decade.
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