Inside Hungary’s move to overturn the EU’s Russian gas ban

Hungary has vowed legal action against the European Union over a planned ban on Russian gas imports by 2027, after Brussels said national objections would not override EU law.

Budapest plans to file a lawsuit at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) once the regulation is formally published.

The government argues the ban oversteps EU competences and should have required unanimity, describing it as a “sanctions-type” measure that infringes national control over energy policy.

Slovakia has signalled it will launch a similar challenge.

EU Commissioner for Energy and Housing Lars Aagaard Jørgensen told reporters in Lisbon Hungary is free to contest the legislation in court but stressed that all member states “must comply with EU law, even if they disagree”.

He said the measure was “legally sound”, according to Reuters.

The CJEU is the EU’s highest court on matters of EU law. It can annul EU regulations or uphold them and its rulings are final and binding on all member states.

Hungary could also ask judges to suspend parts of the regulation during proceedings, although such interim measures are rarely granted.

Why Hungary cares

Hungary remains one of the EU member states most dependent on Russian gas. While the bloc’s overall imports from Russia have dropped sharply since 2022, Hungary continues to rely on long-term pipeline contracts and argues that an abrupt shift would threaten energy security and raise household heating costs.

The government says the ban risks undermining its domestic price-cap system and places “unfair burdens” on countries without access to LNG terminals or diversified supply routes.

Russia once supplied nearly half of the EU’s gas. By late 2025, this had fallen to around 12% of EU imports but Hungary still sources a significant share of its supply from Moscow through the TurkStream route.

Budapest insists the 2027 deadline provides insufficient time to secure alternatives.

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Are there precedents?

Member states have previously taken the European Commission to court over environmental and competition regulations, but direct legal challenges against major EU energy or sanctions-related measures are rare.

For example, Poland successfully challenged elements of the EU’s Emissions Trading System in the 2010s and Germany brought cases over renewable energy state-aid rules but neither involved a core strategic sanctions-type measure on energy imports.

The outcome could set an important benchmark for how far the EU can go in reshaping the bloc’s energy system under majority voting.

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Hungary EU European Union Russian gas Russia energy Slovakia