Hungary to sue EU over ban on Russian gas imports

BUDAPEST,

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday that his government would take the European Union to court over its decision last month to phase out Russian gas imports.

Hungary -- the Kremlin's closest ally in the 27-nation EU - still depends heavily on Russian energy imports despite Moscow invading Ukraine in 2022.

It previously used its veto power to obtain exemptions from EU sanctions against Russian energy.

EU countries last month agreed to phase out their remaining gas imports from Russia by the end of 2027. All but Hungary and Slovakia supported the latest move, according to diplomats.

"We do not accept this obviously unlawful solution contrary to European values, which was chosen by Brussels to shut down a national government that disagrees with it," Orbán told state radio in his weekly interview.

"We are turning to the European Court of Justice."

"This is no longer a sanction but a trade policy measure," he continued of the EU decision.

"And sanctions require unanimity (in EU voting), while a majority decision is sufficient for trade policy," he said.

The nationalist premier added he was also "looking for other, non-legal" means to dissuade Brussels but said he would not give details for now.

Orbán alleged that a US sanction waiver he secured last week at a meeting with his "dear friend" and ideological ally, US President Donald Trump, could stretch beyond a year.

Trump slapped sanctions on Moscow's two largest oil companies in October, apparently losing patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin for not ending the nearly four-year-old invasion of Ukraine.

US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said Budapest was granted a one-year temporary exemption.

But Orbán insisted it would be in effect "as long as Donald Trump is the president of the United States and there is a national government in Hungary".

"This is a personal agreement between two leaders. The bureaucrats write whatever they write but that has no significance," he said.

Orbán has had frequent run-ins with Brussels.

The central European country has refused to send military aid to Ukraine and opposes Kyiv's EU membership bid, arguing this will draw Hungary into the war.