Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has been fined $600 for indoor smoking and not following social distancing rules.
According to Al Jazeera, he held a meeting in a government building with several cabinet members and other participants who had not kept a distance between them.
He was accused of breaking the restrictions on coronavirus in his own government after a picture of him smoking and drinking with several cabinet members inside his office emerged.
Orban is pictured in the smartphone photo, smoking a cigarette surrounded by four members of the cabinet, none of whom wear masks or practice social distancing.
Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is seen smoking a cigar, as masks lie next to bottles of alcohol on a table.
Eugen Teodorovici, an opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD) senator, was among the first to share the picture on social media.
“This is happening inside the PM’s office. This is what liberals do while governing. Shame on you,” he wrote on Facebook Friday.
Orban said the photo was taken on 25 May, his 57th birthday.
“Some colleagues came by to surprise me. I gave them something to eat, a glass of wine, whisky. We weren’t wearing masks because we just finished eating.” Orban told the Mediafax news agency.
