Bulgaria’s government plans to ban smoking in indoor public spaces from 1 June 2010, Reuters reports.

"The ruling aims at securing an environment without tobacco smoke and protecting non-smokers' health," the government said on Thursday in a statement.
Bulgaria has already banned smoking in hospitals, taxis and some offices and requires restaurant and bar owners to designate smoking and non-smoking areas, but the measures have been widely ignored. Opinion polls show nearly half of the smokers in the country do not comply with existing smoking bans. The government approved amendments to the health law to include the smoking ban, which has to be approved by parliament.
More than 52 per cent of men and more than 38 per cent of women in Bulgaria are regular smokers. (pi)