EU states approve ban on Russian gas imports, Hungary and Slovakia oppose

EU member states today gave final approval to a phased ban on gas imports from Russia, the Council of the EU announced. Under the regulation, imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will end by 1 January 2027 at the latest, while pipeline gas imports will be allowed under certain conditions until 1 November 2027 at the latest.

Failure to comply with the new rules may result in fines of at least 2.5 million euros for individuals and 40 million euros (Kč 970 million) for companies, or at least 3.5 percent of their total annual worldwide turnover or 300 percent of the estimated value of the transaction.

The proposal passed despite votes against it by ministers from Slovakia and Hungary. The Czech Republic voted in favour. Budapest has already announced that it intends to challenge the ban before the European Court in Luxembourg.

"Slovakia voted against the adoption of the regulation because of its expected negative economic and financial impacts, as well as its potential adverse effects on security of gas supply," Slovak State Secretary Marek Eštok said.

According to Eštok, Slovakia supports joint European efforts to gradually reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels, but calls for the geographical and economic circumstances of the most affected countries to be taken into account.

The ban on Russian gas imports will apply to short-term supply contracts concluded before 17 June 2025, starting on 25 April for LNG and 17 June for pipeline gas. The ban on long-term LNG contracts will take effect on 1 January 2027.

For the most sensitive contracts, namely long-term pipeline gas import contracts, the ban will take effect on 30 September 2027 if member states are able to meet their storage-filling targets. The latest date for the ban on pipeline gas imports to take effect is 1 November 2027.

Russia was for a long time Europe's largest natural gas supplier, and according to the EU statistical office Eurostat, as recently as 2020 it supplied almost 40 percent of the European Union's gas consumption. After Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western countries introduced numerous sanctions aimed at limiting Russia's revenue from commodity sales that finance the war. In 2025, Russian gas accounted for about 13 percent of EU imports, worth more than 15 billion euros.