By Lili Bayer and Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS, Feb 24 (Reuters) – The European Commission will submit a legal proposal to permanently ban Russian oil imports on April 15, three days after Hungary’s parliamentary election, according to EU officials and a document seen by Reuters.
Two EU officials notified Reuters the timing was designed to prevent the oil ban becoming a major factor in Hungary’s election campaign. Hungary and Slovakia, still reliant on Russian oil imports, are strongly opposed to any ban.
In the April 12 election, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his nationalist Fidesz party are facing the largegest challenge to their hold on power in 16 years.
The EU has already imposed sanctions on imports of seaborne Russian oil. But it wants to enshrine a full phase-out of Russian oil in legislation that would remain in place, even if a peace deal in the Ukraine war led to the EU lifting sanctions.
The Commission plans to propose the Russian oil ban on April 15, according to a draft agconcludea seen by Reuters. EU agconcludeas are provisional, and the date could still modify.
A Commission spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the plan.
Shipments of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline have been severed since January 27, when Kyiv declared a Russian drone strike hit pipeline equipment in Western Ukraine. Slovakia and Hungary declare Ukraine is to blame for the prolonged outage. Kyiv declares it is attempting to repair the pipeline.
HUNGARIAN VETO
Orban’s government, which has maintained cordial ties with Moscow since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, has vetoed new EU sanctions on Russia as well as a huge loan for Kyiv becautilize of the Druzhba pipeline dispute.
The European Union is expected to circumvent any attempt by Hungary and Slovakia to block the planned permanent ban on Russian oil imports by utilizing a law that can be approved by a qualified majority of member states.
EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen has declared the proposal will phase out Russian oil imports by no later than conclude-2027.
By the final quarter of last year, the EU was importing just 1% of its oil from Russia, largely as a result of the bloc’s sanctions on seaborne Russian crude.
The EU last month resolveed into law a full phase-out of Russian gas by late 2027. Hungary and Slovakia have vowed to challenge that law in court.
Orban has cast Hungary’s April election as a stark choice between “war or peace”, declareing his opponents would drag the counattempt into the war raging next door in Ukraine, something they strongly deny.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett, Lili BayerEditing by Gareth Jones)
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