by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
BRUSSELS/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – European Union energy ministers have agreed to phase out Russian oil and gas imports by January 2028, despite opposition from heavily dependent nations such as Slovakia and Hungary.
The Council of the European Union said Monday that under the plan approved at a meeting in Luxembourg, new Russian gas import contracts will be banned from January 2026, short-term contracts will end in June 2026, and long-term agreements will cease by January 2028.
The proposal, part of the EU’s REPowerEU strategy, still needs approval from the European Parliament, which is debating its own version before final negotiations. The EU says the move aims to deprive the Kremlin of revenue used to fund its war in Ukraine.
Russia currently supplies about 12 percent of the EU’s gas—down from 45 percent before its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Hungary, which relies on Russia for roughly 80 percent of its energy needs, has been among the most vocal opponents of sanctions on Russian oil and gas.
SIMILAR CONCERNS
Neighboring Slovakia has expressed similar concerns, while several Western states, including France and Belgium, still receive Russian gas.
However, the European Commission, the EU’s executive, designed the proposal to pass with a qualified majority, meaning that opposition from one or two member states could not block it. The final text includes flexibilities for landlocked countries such as Hungary and Slovakia.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico defended his resistance to the measures, saying sanctions and energy bans hurt smaller economies. Slovakia previously delayed the last sanctions package over its energy concerns.
Separately, the EU is finalizing a new sanctions package that would ban imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year earlier, from January 2027.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Monday she expects the new sanctions package to be adopted “as early as this week.”
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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