Hungary and Slovakia will sue the European Union (EU) to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to reverse the ban on Russian energy in the Re PowerEU plan - Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced on December 8.
The lawsuit will be filed immediately after the new regulation is approved by the EU next week, with a request to suspend the terms until the case is considered.
The Re PowerEU initiative was launched by the European Commission in 2022, after the Ukraine conflict escalated, with the goal of completely eliminating imports of fossil fuels from Russia by the end of 2027.
Last week, the European Council and the European Parliament reached a preliminary agreement to stop imports of Russian LNG by the end of 2026 and completely end Russian gas via pipeline by November 2027.
This is seen as a strong effort to reduce the EU's strategic dependence on Russian energy. However, the two members Hungary and Slovakia immediately strongly objected.
On social network X, Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjarto argued that the regulation was a "sanction" - which required the unanimous approval of all 27 member states. The European Commission has ignored the voting rights of Hungary and Slovakia by shifting the decision to EU trade and energy law, which only requires a majority in favor.
Mr. Szijjarto called this move "a large-scale legal fraud case", going against the bloc's democratic process.
Both Hungary and Slovakia are heavily dependent on Russian oil and gas, especially in the industrial and electricity sectors. Budapest warned that if it completely cuts off supply, their energy security would be threatened, while fuel prices could spike to uncontrollable levels.
In addition to Hungary, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico also stressed that the country has enough legal basis to participate in the lawsuit. According to analysts, this could become one of the biggest legal challenges for the European Commission in the field of energy and sanctions.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has repeatedly warned that the EU's self-cutting off of Russian energy will increase costs, cause long-term instability and make it difficult for businesses to survive.
If the ECJ declares that EU regulations violate legal procedures, the Re PowerEU plan could be suspended or subject to extensive amendments - something Brussels would like to avoid in the context of the bloc's efforts to accelerate energy diversification.
