Restrictions on new deals will come into force in 2026, with a transition period set for existing contracts, the bloc has said<\/p>\n
EU members have agreed to ban the transit of Russian gas through the bloc, the European Council has announced.
\nSigning new import deals for Russian gas will be prohibited by the bloc from January 1, 2026, the council said in a statement on Monday.\u00a0Short-term deals reached before June 17, 2025, will be allowed to run until June 17, 2026, while long-term\u00a0contracts will be permitted to run until January 1, 2028, the statement read.
\nAccording to the council, the new rules leave room for \u201cspecific flexibilities for landlocked member states affected by recent changes in supply routes,\u201d which will be permitted to make amendments to their existing contracts with Russia.
\nHungarian Minister Peter Szijjarto, who attended the Russian Energy Week forum in Moscow last week, reiterated that Budapest has no intention of giving up Russian gas and oil as it \u201cwill not be able to ensure the necessary fuel supplies\u201d without the deliveries.
\nRobert Fico, the prime minister of EU member Slovakia, said earlier this month that the bloc is \u201cshooting ourselves in the knee\u201d by trying to phase out Russian energy. According to Fico, he will continue to argue with Brussels \u201cto convince them that it is a senseless ideological step.\u201d
\nThe ban on Russian gas was announced as EU energy ministers gathered in Brussels, where they backed the proposal to completely remove Russian oil and gas by January 2028.
\nDanish Energy Minister Lars Aagaard expressed satisfaction that legislation which \u201cwill definitively ban Russian gas from coming into the EU\u201d has received \u201coverwhelming\u201d support from ministers. \u201cAn energy independent Europe is a stronger and more secure Europe,\u201d he claimed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Restrictions on new deals will come into force in 2026, with a transition period set for existing contracts, the bloc has said EU members have agreed to ban the transit…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t