BUDAPEST, December 7. /TASS/. Hungary and Slovakia will challenge the potential ban on imports of Russian oil and gas with the EU Court of Justice next week, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.
“Brussels wants to put for voting next week a resolution banning imports of Russian oil and natural gas to Europe. This dictation will make it impossible to ensure reliable energy supplies to our country and Slovakia and will provoke a dramatic price hike,” he wrote on his Facebook account (Facebook is banned in Russia due to its ownership by Meta, which has been designated as extremist).
“Moreover, this is a big legal fraud because, in fact, this is a sanction measure that can be adopted only unanimously,” he noted, adding that the European Commission’s intention to make this decision not by a consensus but by a majority vote “totally contradicts the principal Treaty on European Union,” which, among other things, says that the energy policy is a national competence of countries.
“That is why, immediately after this decision is made, jointly with the Slovak government we will file a suit with the EU Court of Justice demanding this regulation be cancelled and its effect be suspended while judicial proceeding continue,” he added.
On October 20, the EU Council approved a phased ban on all purchases of Russian gas, effective January 1, 2028. The decision applies to both pipeline and liquefied natural gas. The European Commission’s plan also includes a ban on Russian oil supplies, effective 2028. A ban on nuclear fuel is under discussion.
The Hungarian government has expressed its intention to seek exemptions from those rules. However, no proposals on the matter have yet been received from EU leaders.