Poland’s capital, Warsaw, has announced a ban on nighttime sales of alcohol in shops and petrol stations across the entire city. The new measure will come into force on June 1 and will apply from 10 p.m to 6 a.m.
“We have listened to the voice of residents,” declared mayor Rafal Trzaskowski after the city council voted almost unanimously in favour of the ban.
Many of Poland’s largest cities have in recent years banned nighttime alcohol sales for reasons of public safety, noise reduction and cleanliness. Krakow, the country’s second-largest city, reported that police interventions fell by half after its ban was introduced.
The authorities in Warsaw have come under increasing pressure to do the same. Trzaskowski was previously resistant to the idea, but last November the city launched a pilot scheme that banned nighttime sales in two central districts.
During the three months of that pilot, interventions by municipal police at night fell by 15% in those two districts. Meanwhile, a telephone survey of 1,000 residents carried out by city hall found that 58% were in favour of extending the ban citywide, while 27% were opposed.
“The current pilot restriction in two Warsaw districts has proven to be an effective measure in improving safety,” said Trzaskowski. “Thanks to the pilot, we are also better prepared to implement and enforce the restriction citywide.”
However, opponents of the ban argued that it would restrict freedoms, harm local businesses, and potentially lead to illegal sales of alcohol. But those arguments were brushed aside by the city council, where, in a vote on March 12, 57 members were in favour and only two against.
While shops and petrol stations will be barred from selling alcohol at night, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and hotels can continue to do so. There is also an exception for the duty-free area of Warsaw’s main airport.
Around 180 municipalities across Poland now have some form of nighttime ban on buying alcohol for off-premises consumption.
Last year, The Left (Lewica), one of the parties in Poland’s ruling coalition, proposed a law that would introduce such a ban nationwide, as well as prohibit all forms of alcohol advertising. The lower house of parliament, the Sejm, began working on the legislation in January.
Meanwhile, in one of his first acts last year after being appointed as speaker of the Sejm, The Left’s Wlodzimierz Czarzasty banned alcohol sales in parliamentary buildings, saying that politicians had to set an example. (Notes from Poland)