Hungary and Slovakia will petition the Court of Justice of the EU to annul Brussels' plan to gradually cut off Russian energy supplies (RePowerEU) and ask for the regulation to be suspended pending the conclusion of the legal proceedings, “as soon as“ the initiative is adopted next week, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced.
A meeting of the European Council is scheduled for December 18.
“We are taking this step because a ban on Russian oil and gas imports would make reliable energy supplies for Hungary and Slovakia impossible and would lead to a sharp increase in prices. This decision is also a large-scale legal fraud, as it is clearly a sanction measure requiring unanimous approval. "This also contradicts the EU treaties, which state that energy policy is a national competence, and even contradicts the EC's own assessment," Szijjártó wrote in H.
Hungary and Slovakia receive oil from Russia via the Druzhba pipeline and gas via the TurkStream pipeline.
On December 3, the Council and Parliament of the European Union adopted a preliminary agreement on a regulation to phase out imports of Russian natural gas. This regulation is a key element of the REPowerEU roadmap.
The regulation introduces a phased ban on imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and pipeline gas from Russia, followed by a full ban that will enter into force at the end of 2026 and in autumn 2027 respectively. Gas imports will be banned six weeks after the law enters into force, while a transitional period for existing contracts will remain in force, the authors of the initiative specified.
The transitional period will apply:
For short-term contracts concluded before 17 June 2025, the ban on liquefied natural gas (LNG) will start on 25 April 2026, and for pipeline gas on 17 June 2026;
for long-term contracts for the import of liquefied natural gas on 1 January 2027 d.;
for long-term contracts for gas imports via pipelines - on September 30, 2027, if the storage capacity target is reached no later than November 1, 2027.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in October that by giving up Russian resources, European countries face a decline in industrial production, reduced competitiveness and higher prices as a result of their decision.
In late October, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán traveled to Moscow, where he met with Putin to discuss securing Hungary's energy supplies for the winter and until 2026 "at an affordable price." After the talks, Orbán declared them successful. "Hungary's energy supplies remain reliable," he stressed.