EU worry over Cyprus’ smoking ban

AN ARTICLE published by the Cyprus Mail on December 18 titled “Club owners: punters staying home to smoke” has caused some concern within the European Union, which has demanded an update on the situation in Cyprus, according to Police Spokesman Michael Katsounotos.

Speaking to SigmaTV yesterday, Katsounotos said “ I have just received an email from the Health Ministry saying that an article in the Cyprus Mail has caused concern in the European Union that smoking laws in Cyprus were about to be changed after complaints from night club owners.”

The article quotes Phanos Leventis, general-secretary of the Cyprus Association of Owners of Entertainment Centres (PASIKA), saying:  “Plenty of businesses have changed hands. Places have closed, and many of them have been forced to fire staff because they’re opening fewer days.”

According to Leventis some MPs had promised a postponement of the law until certain changes were made to it. He went on to say that he was reassured by some MPs that once Parliament opened in September the issue would be resolved by winter. Furthermore on December 18 House Health Committee Chairman, DISY’s Costas Constantinou, said his committee was willing to re-discuss the smoking ban in nightclubs.

Over 6,500 people have been reported by police for smoking indoors in public places during the first year of the smoking ban. Police said they had carried out close to 49,000 checks at establishments in Cyprus, issuing 6,449 on the spot fines including four in medical facilities.

Katsounotos went on to slam the four people caught in medical facilities such as clinics smoking “It’s a travesty that they sought to smoke in such places” he said. Katsounotos added that results have been “satisfactory so far” however when pressed said: “I am not aware how well we are enforcing the law compared to other EU member states.”



The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.