The mayor of Slatina, Mario De Mezzo, announced on February 25 that he will seek to ban gambling activities in the southern Romanian city, pledging that betting shops and gambling halls will gradually disappear as existing authorisations expire.

“Slatina will be the first city free from gambling,” De Mezzo said, according to Agerpres.

The measure requires approval by the Local Council before it can enter into force. If endorsed, the ban would not apply retroactively but would be implemented progressively, as current licences reach their expiry date.

De Mezzo said the initiative is made possible by the public administration emergency ordinance adopted by the government earlier this week. The new legislation introduces a provision explicitly granting Local Councils the authority to decide, by resolution, whether gambling activities may operate within their administrative territory.

“A new article is introduced that explicitly establishes that the Local Council decides, by decision, whether or not gambling activities can be carried out on the territory of the administrative-territorial unit. In this context, immediately after the publication of the normative act in the Official Gazette, in the first meeting of the Slatina Local Council, I will initiate a draft decision regarding the prohibition of gambling activities within the municipality,” De Mezzo said.

If adopted, Slatina would become one of the first Romanian cities to use the newly granted powers to restrict the local gambling industry.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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