Nobody breaks tobacco smoke in Pristina, that's all fines

The smoke of tobacco that swept through the space of about 60 square metres of a bar in Pristina cannot clearly see the faces of people who were drinking morning coffee.

Unhindered by almost no one, many smoked, though such is forbidden with the Law against tobacco.

The heels placed on each bar table are filled with cigarette tails.

Such a view is almost all in gastronomial areas where citizens stay for a cup of coffee or for food consumption.

I'm a smoker, and in cases where we've been served the tobacco tax at the bar, then I smoke. If there are no tobacco heels, I ask the waiter, and if I get the green light, I'm drinking”, says a citizen from Pristina who doesn't want to be identified.

The anti-smoking law, which went into effect a decade ago, prohibits smoking in public spaces involving hotel and maid establishments, work spaces, public transportation, and other countries.

Smoking in these locals is being highlighted as a major concern for some non-dukhanpira.

“At this point I think I consume it until I stand there”, says River a student from Pristina.

I can't escape this because everybody drinks. Maybe there are two or three locals in Pristina where there is no tobacco consumption”, he adds.

Idriz Sahiti, who has been a smoker for 20 years but now doesn't smoke, says that in almost all the establishments he frequents, he smokes.

I'm stuck on the way, leaving it at the bar. The problem here is with the customers because the owners don't want to impose rules that they're afraid the customers are leaving. We ourselves should be aware not to smoke in closed environments”, he says.

Some local owners, with whom Radio Free Europe spoke, have not wanted to be promoted in respect to the non-smoking Law.

Sentences from 30 euros to 3,000 euros

Under the Anti-smoking Law, if you smoke in the areas where it is prohibited by law, fine subjects are between 1,000 and three thousand euros, until for the physical person 30 to 50 euros.

Arian Vranica, from the Kosovo Gastronomous Association, tells Radio Free Europe that the Anti-smoking Law has found no implementation due to <x0ndanddardes created by appointed inspectors”.

According to him, some businesses have managed to deal with certain inspectors and have allowed them to smoke inside the bar.

This situation has caused disappointment in other businesses and the law is then not respected”, Vranica adds.

The Gastronomers' Association, according to Vranica, is working with municipalities for a respect for the Anti-smoking Law, but, initially as it says, “should eliminate cases that create unfair competition”.

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But in the Food and Veterinary Agency, say there is a shortage of inspectors for monitoring the enforcement of the Anti-smoking Law.

The executive director in this agency, Flamur Kadriu, tells Radio Free Europe that 1,153 checks of gastronomial department premises were conducted in 2022 and 52 legal and 18 for persons.

There are only 57 nymical inspectors dealing with monitoring [the implementation] The antismoking law, but those inspectors also have food control and many other obligations. We don't have enough inspectors”, Kadriu says.

For this year, the number of inspectors, says Kadriu, is meant to grow only seven-sosh, no more.

According to the World Health Organization, tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year.

More than 7 million of these deaths, according to O BSH, are the result of direct use of tobacco, while about 1.2 million are non-duhanpiers, but have been exposed to it.

Pulmology Clinic Director Musa Hoxha tells Radio Free Europe that the main cause of lung disease shows stems from smoking.

Within the year, Hoxha says, there are over two thousand patients who are hospitalized at the Pulmology Clinic.

Risked by lung disease, he adds, there are also people who are exposed to smoking environments.

The main cause of lung cancer is smoking. Of all lung cancer cases, for example. Out of 10 patients, nine of them are smokers a non-smoking”, Hoxha says.

CDC: Over 80 percent of citizens are exposed to tobacco smoke

In Kosovo, according to a 2020 research done by the Centre for Development and Avoim (KADC), over 80 percent of citizens are exposed to tobacco smoke in bars, cafes and restaurants.

While in the workplace, exposure to tobacco smoke is 27 percent and home over 30 percent.

Shkumbin Spahija from this organisation tells Radio Free Europe that difficulties in implementing the Tobacco Control Law lie in the lack of political will and neglect to implement this law on the part of Government and responsible institutions.

The lack of inspections on the part of competent inspectors has left the implementation of this law to remain in the will of the owners of gastronomial establishments, degradation overall the level of respect for the Law against tobacco”, Spahija says.

He adds that their work in this area has helped citizens to see that they are not aware of the dangers and addictions caused by tobacco.

“It is very important to put discouraging photos in cigarette packages because research in other countries has shown that these affect the prevention of young people to start with tobacco consumption and smoking smokers”, he says.

According to KDC, Kosovo is in the final phase of drafting a regulation for establishing health remarks with photographs.

Radio Free Europe has sent questions to the Ministry of Health to get more information about the Anti-smoking Law and the measures being taken by this minister, but until the publication of this text, there has been no response.

According to research by the Centre for Development and Avoim (KADC), 37.7 percent of Kosovars over the age of 18 are regular smokers. And 11.5 percent of the population smoke occasionally.

Among smokers who smoke regularly, according to this research, 45.8 percent are males, and 29.9 percent are females.

In 2022, according to Kosovo Customs spokesman Adriatic Stavileci, over 4 thousand tonnes of tobacco have been imported worth over 100m euros.

Compared with last year, he reportedly has a 14 - percent increase in imported tobacco value.