Why Serbians smoke in restaurants?

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David_Aaron_Finck@reddit

I am actually primarily a ganja smoker, 35 years, cigarette only in public, if I have no choice, and I was positively surprised about partial law in half of Bosnia. Most of the people consume the questionable or self made cigarettes, and it happens that some of the tobaccos used by people stinks worse than burning shit, not a very pleasant atmosphere to have a dinner with a nice lady, when people on the next table light 5 such cigarettes.

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Big-Vegetable4550@reddit

FYI - all burning tobacco smells like shit to a non-smoker, and so do smokers. Not judging, but it’s a filthy habit harmful to the smoker and everyone around them. Lost both parents in their early 70’s to smoking related issues. The pain tobacco (and people without the self-control to stop smoking) cause to society is enormous.

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David_Aaron_Finck@reddit

I am also totally against tobacco, but there is other plant I am connected, for the medical purposes, because this world is permanently poisoning me with the all the emotional impacts I am exposed against my will, and I never felt on my own, but out there is so much of it that the shit is going through me like the X rays and poisoning my substance. When I get too high dose of this negative energy by my brothers and sisters, only nice pot helps to get my own balance or I have to face a couple of days with the migraine.

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Big-Vegetable4550@reddit

I’m sorry for your pain. Just be careful with pot - there are downsides to it too (though probably no more downsides than alcohol). The smoking part of pot is not much better than cigarettes (folks in the US where pot has been legalized often prefer gummies). But smoking pot all the time can really sap your ambition. I’ve know a few smart, ambitious, driven young people that turned into stereotypical stoners after too much pot for too many years. Best of luck on your journey.

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VeterinarianTricky56@reddit

I miss the days of people smoking inside although I didn’t smoke at the time I was a young child but I remember it, I would have it back in a hearth beat it’s literally what I think of when I think of Eastern Europe

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Individual_Edge6018@reddit

We need to maintain one of the highest cancer rates in the world. It's not easy but we are committed.

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ImamTrump@reddit

The golden age of the Balkans was when you could smoke in the school hallways. Not the classes. Wild times.

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Dafke98@reddit

Now the rules are stricter and kids today can smoke only in school bathrooms

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BiasedCrumb@reddit

Because it's very pleasurable, and "rounds up" the meal. We have no laws against it and it's a great social lubricant - half the adult population here smokes. We know it's unhealthy, but until a couple of decades ago smoking wasn't as frowned upon anywhere else in the world. Part of it is us not giving up our culture, and it works the other eay around - we are amazed at how disgusted by smoke tourists are as well as the "snowflakery" of it all.

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BackToGuac@reddit

God I had just quit smoking when my fiancé (now husband) went to Serbia and it was torturous… fags were so cheap and smoking was allowed EVERYWHERE … good times, bad for your lungs, but good times

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TrainingHeavy1666@reddit

Because they can

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Ha55aN1337@reddit

Because they didn’t pass a law against it. This used to be the norm in Yugoslavia and whole balkan. Then we each passed a law 1by1… they didn’t.

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Specialist-Juice-591@reddit

I hate it. With children we can only go to restaurants during summer.

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PrestigiousCourse856@reddit

Thats why I like mcdonalds and kfc. They are no smoking areas

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Ha55aN1337@reddit

I agree they could at least have 50/50 designated areas for nonsmokers/families. But it is part of the culture. Our parents used to smoke Marlboro redsin the car with the windows closed and us in the back seat even in Slovenia, during the 80s…

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DieserEineDude@reddit

Even if there is a law, no one would care

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Ha55aN1337@reddit

That’s what we thought. Took 20 years to become unimaginable to smoke inside.

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cleaner007@reddit

We had some law like 15 years ago and it was strick at the beginning, there was some fines and restaurants had to split into smoking and non smoking area, but somehow it went back to smoking again

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Suspicious-Bug1994@reddit

The non smoking and smoking areas are a joke though tbo, for instance second floor terrace is non smoking, and first floor is smoking, but all the smoke just goes up anyways haha.

Or, one room is divided into two, but obviously the smoke fills the entire room.

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Panceltic@reddit

"Ima zakon, al nitko ne poštuje" :D

Said to me by guys smoking inside a kafana in Bosnia, they were right under a "no smoking" sign

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Slow_IP@reddit

In all honesty, even with the law against it there are still people not giving my a shit about it in some more remote places.

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Ha55aN1337@reddit

It was like that for an extended time in Slovenia… then teh generation changed and now it’s pretty much gone.

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jeanmardare@reddit

Well it's same as in every other countriy, really, civilization is taking it's fair amount of time.

In Romania for example, banning smoking wad adopted really late compared to Western Europe because there was a way more larger mass of stupid people that didn't see that as a need.

Same in Serbia, only worse.

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Markomannia@reddit

In Austria they only implemented it in 2020.

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brickne3@reddit

Yeah the law in Romania was literally ten years ago last month. I was kind of surprised it worked, tbh, absolutely everywhere in Bucharest was indoor smoking before then.

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RedditAnonDude@reddit

It’s a personal hygiene issue. If you don’t shower daily or change your clothes everyday, you don’t care how you smell. The smoke covers the other terrible smells. It’s like community deodorant.

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amazingamy19@reddit

No dude. I’m in the middle of my bar exam studies, stressed as fuck, and want a fucking cigarette few times a day.

You people would really say whatever, just to say something.

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AdWonderful3621@reddit

Serbia is a horror for non smokers.

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-TaylorDurden-@reddit

Lemme fix that sentence for you:

Serbia is a horror ~~for non smokers~~

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dardan031@reddit

Serbia is Cancer

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wtfisthissssssssssss@reddit

Visited Belgrade a few months ago, I agree with you.

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Sad-n-Salty@reddit

Serbia is heaven for smokers*

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Attack_na_battak@reddit

Go in non smoking restaurant, simple as that...

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Suspicious-Bug1994@reddit

if you can find one that is, good luck outside of BG and a handful of places in NS.

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Attack_na_battak@reddit

When you are in Rome...

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MyGayGossip@reddit

Funny you should ask — I was thinking about posting the same question in the Belgrade forum, but I held back, worried that most Serbians would downvote it into oblivion.

Cigarettes are a serious business in Serbia, and for good reason — addiction is the perfect sales model. Once someone gets hooked on a particular taste or brand, they become a loyal, repeat customer almost by default. The cigarette company doesn't need to win them over again — it already has them.

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pdonchev@reddit

Smoking was banned indoors in Bulgaria only in 2012, not that long ago, and in many restaurants, especially outside tourist destinations, soming indoors in bars and restaurants is still a thing. Also, 1991 was not "Balkanturist" era, try at least several years back, bettr a decade.

The young generation is really confused.

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ZhenDeRen@reddit

I heard that it's a very easy indicator of whether a place is owned by Russians: these are the only places in Belgrade/Novi Sad where you can't smoke

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brickne3@reddit

Weird, you'd think the Russian places would somehow manage to smoke even more.

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ZhenDeRen@reddit

Not really anymore. We smoke a lot but not as much. And smoking in restaurants has been illegal since the 2000s, so considering that most Russians in Serbia are on the younger side that's what they are used to.

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No-Championship-4632@reddit

It is a clever plot to increase turnover and profits by forcing the foreign tourists to vacate the seats faster so another group replaces them.

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Particular-Quote-486@reddit

all while increasing the prices on the english menus 😂

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elixxirumoflife@reddit

Like every other balkans?? This is the tradition,and lots of balkan ppl are heavy smokers. This is not only a Serbian thing.

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canyoubelieveitt@reddit

As a smoker myself, in the beginning I hated the law that forbid smoking in restaurants and clubs here. Now I have to say, I wouldn't want to go back. Earlier years I always thought after clubbing my head hurts because of the alcohol, now I realized it was mainly because of the smoking and breathing in the fumes all night.

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PortugueseRoamer@reddit

Im also a smoker and I was in a night club with no smoking inside. I'm massively hungover with a terrible headache. I dont think it was the smoke

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belabacsijolvan@reddit

because they like to smoke.

i get it when people are bothered by it, but if you are bothered by it, go to a restaurant where they dont smoke.

i really miss smokey budapest bars. and westerners are kinda insane in their crusade against smoking.

we once had to wait for low tide on a beach in costa rica and smoked a cigarette with a friend in the middle of nowhere. literally no settlement in kilometers. i respect nature, so i had a closable ashtray for the butts.

a bus of americans arrived also waiting for the high tide to pass, they set up a picnic like 100-150ms away. we greeted them from afar and continued talking and smoking by our car. an american lady walked up to us, we greeted her nice and open. she started to shout at us to stop smoking. she literally walked 150m and got angry for no fucking reason. we told her that we dont get what the problem is. in the next 2 hours they literally came up to us like 5 times to stop smoking.
we were literally afraid that they will get physical. they were pretty bitch ass gringos, so we werent afraid that theyll beat us up, we were afraid that we will have to beat her husband out of self defense.

so maybe yall should moderate your insanity and keep it in your own life. and if you actively seek out the company of someone you shouldnt fuck with their relaxation.

i think serbians think along these lines too.

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Background-Ad6454@reddit

Why should someone move when you decided to do something that annoys people around you? If I played loud music you'd tell me to lower the volume - you wouldn't go somewhere else.

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belabacsijolvan@reddit

you annoy me. go away

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Background-Ad6454@reddit

gif

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belabacsijolvan@reddit

yeah, that was my reaction too the third time they came up

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Ecce_Homo___@reddit

I don’t get it either, so barbaric and shameful for our country.

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meatbag-47@reddit

You know what's really crazy? They intend to expand mining operations across the country despite the severe pollution levels:

> Based on early 2026 data, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and North Macedonia in the Western Balkans have the highest particle pollution (PM2.5) in Europe, often exceeding WHO safe levels. Türkiye also hosts many of Europe's most polluted cities. This pollution causes severe health issues, particularly in Southeast Europe.
> Most Polluted Areas: Cities in the Balkans, such as Sarajevo and Belgrade, frequently experience pollution levels higher than Beijing, especially in winter due to burning solid fuels for heat.

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GlitteringLocality@reddit

They smoke everywhere in Serbia. Including the hospitals and police stations. This is a normal experience haha.

I lived in South Serbia for five years and smoked while there. Loved the flavored ones, however I quit after leaving Serbia.

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Vdd666@reddit

Good for them.

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ChiefKeefSossaa@reddit

It's also the case in Republic of Srpska too. It's funny cuz half of Bosnia and Herzegovina can smoke in restaurants and half can't lmao

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StevenAdamsInDallas@reddit

I miss when we could smoke in restaurants, it was chill.

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deviendrais@reddit

A friend of mine from Timișoara says he visits Belgrade so frequently just so he could enjoy the freedom of smoking in restaurants. Last bastion of smoker’s rights in Europe!

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BeatnologicalMNE@reddit

Wait till you see Sarajevo in Bosnia... :D

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Otherwise-Cow-2241@reddit

You can't smoke in restaurants in Sarajevo at all

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BeatnologicalMNE@reddit

That's a change from a year ago or so and it was far, far from being enforced - not sure if that changed meanwhile, if it did that's good to hear.

Meanwhile, everyone and his mother is smoking indoors in all of the big shopping malls like there is no Tomorrow. Been in Sarajevo 8 months ago, both SCC & BBI malls were so full of smoke it's not even funny.

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Otherwise-Cow-2241@reddit

In restaurants and big shopping centers like SCC and BBI it's very much enforced

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BeatnologicalMNE@reddit

That's good to hear then. It wasn't like that in October 2025 tho.

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CranberryThat3564@reddit

Not anymore, smoking is banned for over a year now. Especially at restauraunts. And it is enforced.

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Dexters_Folly@reddit

The real reason is all the major tabaco producing companies are located in Serbia and they export huge ammounts of cigarettes. Lots of ppl are tabaco producers and coupled with strong manufactures like British American tobaco, Philip Morris and Japan tobaco international who pay enormous taxes are big employers and are also huge exporters, its in the government best interest to do what they say. And they say dont implement the ban on smoking. Its simple as that. If the incentive on ban was the same as it is on not baning it money wise, it would be baned yesterday. As it is i dont see this will change amy time soon

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Milost_od_Anglija@reddit

I would pressume it is rather a normalised thing in Serbian culture

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Barbak86@reddit

It was normal everywhere. Norms and customs change with law enforcement.

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cleaner007@reddit

We had law, but after some time I guess corruption hits like everything else here, owners of restaurants paid communal inspectors under the table to not be bothered with that

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ivanko_prvi@reddit

True (and I hate that too)

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blumonste@reddit

One reason why I want to visit Serbia again.

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Dramatic_Mastodon_93@reddit

Me when I have to piss off strangers because I love lung cancer

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finehostay@reddit

If you’ve ever been you’d know 99% of people aren’t annoyed by it. If you don’t like it, don’t go

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MindlessControl7075@reddit

This shit looks disgusting

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Ujemegaz@reddit

Because it tastes better when not allowed.

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its-chris-p-logue@reddit

But it is allowed.

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Ujemegaz@reddit

How is allowed 😅 it is already universal. I have my father who can't stop smoking, and we were in a bar in the north, who have a reputation for not respecting the law, when the state campaign was very severe against smoking with fines and such, and asked the owner if he could smoke, so the owner came and instead of an ashtray brought a clean soup plate to " respect the government accordingly" 🤣

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Neat-Attempt7442@reddit

In serbia it is allowed to smoke inside bars and restaurants.

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Ujemegaz@reddit

It has been since childhood that i haven't seen any of those glass ashtray inside bars everywhere i go, Turkey, Italy, Germany, let alone hotel rooms. Even in outdoor places, there is some bin shaped inox bowl or sth.

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Neat-Attempt7442@reddit

Turkey, italy and germany are not serbia

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Ujemegaz@reddit

In the initial comment i said "universal", but sorry for the response.

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madtape6@reddit

I'm writing this while sitting in a bar and smoking, and i have to say I hate it as well. They tried for some time to divide the areas into smoking and non-smoking, but that didn't make any sense since a lot of places are too small for that. Hopefully someone will come to their senses and change this stupid law because no one should choke on second hand smoke especially in restaurants with families and children, they should at least make it so that smoking is allowed only in places where minors are not present.

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oioioioioioiioo@reddit

It's engrained culture thing, I regularly visit elder friends of my parents, they smoke in their house non stop

Windows open? Are you crazy, promaja will haunt us before lung cancer will

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amazingamy19@reddit

Because that’s our prerogative. Lol

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Simets83@reddit

Because we are fcking morons

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Broad-Lobster7470@reddit

gif

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JoroVuzrodeniq@reddit

Because they are based and sigma unlike rest of Europe

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mika@reddit

It's the worst thing about living here. Winter is absolute misery since you have to site inside wherever you go. I don't understand how we haven't updated our laws yet. Every few years some minister comes up with a plan and then it disappears...

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SuedeJacketMonster@reddit

It's fucking disgusting and I hate it happens in Bulgaria too despite the law. And there is one breed of subhumans who think it's acceptable to vape everywhere, especially teens. One time one vaped in the tram. I had to explain to him he smelled like shit, much to his surprise.

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Admirable_Click2972@reddit

Leave us aloneee

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Fickle-Message-6143@reddit

Smoking in Serbia is big thing, about 40% of both male and female population smokes.

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Big-Vegetable4550@reddit

I was going to say that seems less than I would expect, but maybe the numbers are diluted by pre-teens (it’s probably higher than 40% for older teens…) 😢

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brokencasserole@reddit

No, it's 40% for older than 15 years

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Dramatic_Mastodon_93@reddit

cause they’re selfish pricks who don’t care about themselves, much less about other people

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Big-Vegetable4550@reddit

My life-long smoker American parents flew from Chicago to Zagreb on JAT in 1986 for my wedding. On the way to Zagreb, they flew in the smoking section. On the way back, they moved to the non-smoking section and still breathed more smoke than they wanted to. Some places in the former YU haven’t changed a lot since then, at least as regards smoking. It’s a shame. Smoking killed my parents and I’m sure it has/will continue to in the Balkans.

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Kaliente13@reddit

Because Nazi Germany was the first country to implement a smoking ban, driven by Hitler’s aversion to tobacco. Nazi ideology shouldn’t have a place anywhere 💪

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Mestintrela@reddit

If I am in a closed room restaurant and someone smokes in Greece, I complain to the waiter and demand they stop. I am here to eat not to be subjected to your filthy smoke.

If it is open space I dont care. Fortunately we have slowly become better at this but it took a long while and it is still a work in progress. Maybe in 20 years also Serbia will improve

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SweetUf@reddit

The best indicator of person IQ

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Anxious_Trash_Panda_@reddit

Because our government doesn't give a shit about anything, they just want to stay in their positions of power.

Also, a lot of smokers here and they would go balistic if they forbid it, so it's also a lack of education and the mentality of the people (which the government can all fix, but they don't give a fuck).

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Emergency-Ferret7627@reddit (OP)

I’m at the hotel now. There is indoor pool and there are ashtrays and people smokes here too. At the indoor pool! Come on orcs, that’s too much

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