The European Union has finally decided to stop importing Russian gas. Imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will stop by the end of 2026 at the latest. From November 2027, Russian gas will no longer be allowed to enter the EU via pipelines. EU leaders agreed this with the European Parliament on Wednesday.
“Europe is turning off the tap for Russian fossil fuels forever,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference. “By emptying Putin’s war chest, we express our solidarity with Ukraine and set our sights on new energy partnerships.”
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The EU decision is “impossible” for Hungary to accept and implement, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Wednesday, according to the Reuters news agency. Hungary, like Slovakia, will challenge the decision at the European Court of Justice, Szijjarto reported a message on X. The two countries in Europe are still most dependent on Russian gas, gas expert René Peters of the TNO research institute previously told NRC. Because the countries are not located on the sea, they cannot receive ships carrying liquefied natural gas.
European dependence on Russian gas has been a point of contention ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Before the war in Ukraine, almost half of the EU’s natural gas imports came from Russia. In recent years, that share has fallen sharply to only about 12 percent in October this year.
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