The ban on smoking on balconies is coming into force in Vilnius: about 380 apartment buildings have already been implemented



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Both Adomas Bužinskas, deputy director of the Vilnius municipal administration, and Tomas Jarusevičius, advisor to the mayor of Kaunas, say they do not know how to implement insurance control and say they see loopholes in the legal framework.

According to A. Bužinskas, the smoking ban in the first 28 houses will come into effect in Vilnius on Friday, but the whole process in the municipality generates a lot of “paperwork” and takes about a month.

“We received an objection from a resident, then we have to check if the resident lives at his specific address, he has registered, then we are already preparing an order for the director of administration, informing the administrators that they have to put up information signs, inform the population and then the order takes effect in at least two weeks. ” – A. Bužinskas told LRT radio.

He stressed that the municipality does not have sufficient resources to guarantee control of insurance.

“It just came to our notice then. I can say that there are not so many public order officials in Vilnius and we really have many functions, so preventing smoking on balconies will certainly not be the first priority and officials will not sit down, no they will look at the balconies with binoculars and do not lift drones, ”said A. Bužinskas.

A spokesman for the capital’s municipal administration said that he thought the problem was that “the state is interfering with the private spaces of people in general and regulating the matter” and said that he did not know how the procedure would work for people to report smoking not wanted.

“I really can’t imagine how that mechanism will work, because the person taking the photo will have to provide the person’s name and exact residential address,” he said.

Adomas Bužinskas

Adomas Bužinskas

© DELFI / Domantas Pipas

According to T. Jarusevičius, 40 administrative orders have already been prepared in Kaunas, and the first, which bans smoking in five apartment buildings, will come into effect on February 10.

According to the mayor of Palanga, Šarūnas Vaitkus, five apartment buildings have expressed their wish to ban smoking on the balconies of this complex. He said the municipality would implement the law, but said he doubted both its benefits and its control.

“I am of the opinion that this law cannot be fully implemented, it cannot be controlled. This law, on the contrary, will confuse even more people, neighbors, who will begin to follow each other and take photos,” Š. Silence.

He also pointed out that in Palanga, especially in summer, many vacationers rent rooms and apartments, and it can be problematic to notify and control them properly.

The mayor of Palanga was also supported by the adviser to the mayor of Kaunas, who stated that there is no lack of ambiguity in the law, and its implementation can be difficult. T. Jarusevičius also noted that some of the provisions of the law are being prepared to apply to the Ministry of the Interior for clarification.

Since the beginning of this year, the provisions of the law have come into force, which establish a ban on smoking on the balconies of apartment buildings when at least one resident of the house objects.

In this case, no smoking signs should be installed on the balconies next to or inside the apartment building. This must be done by the building administrator, the community or the municipality.

Unless the neighbors object, smokers must ensure that smoke does not enter the premises of other occupants of the house.

In case of infringement, the owner of the smoking room must provide the officers with the smoker’s details (name and residence address) and will be fined if he refuses to do so.

A person who smokes on the balcony of an unauthorized apartment is threatened with a warning or a fine of 20 to 50 euros, and in the case of repeated violation, 50 to 90 euros. Property owners who have not provided the smoker’s details face a fine of € 30-60 and, in the case of repeated infringement, € 60-120.

The acts of violations can be drawn up not only by the police, but also by public order officials of municipal administrations.

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