Premier Orban pays fines for smoking and not wearing mask indoors

Premier Ludovic Orban paid on Saturday through the platform www.ghiseul.ro two fines of 3,000 lei in total, the maximum amount provided by law, for smoking and not wearing a mask indoors, the government said in a release.

This comes after a photo showing Orban and several government members with no masks and smoking inside a Victoria Palace office was circulated on social media. The gathering was reportedly occasioned by the Prime Minister's birthday.

"The Prime Minister considers that the rules must be equally respected by every citizen, regardless of their position, and if they are violated, the sanctions established by law must be applied without distinction," the cited source said.