The European Union on Tuesday, May 6th, introduced a long-anticipated plan to phase out all remaining gas imports from Russia by the end of 2027, a bold move intended to reinforce energy independence and reduce the bloc’s economic ties with Moscow amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.
“Today the European Union sends a very clear message to Russia: no more, no more, will we permit Russia to weaponize energy against us,” said EU energy chief Dan Jorgensen, unveiling the proposal in Brussels.
The European Commission’s two-step strategy calls for an end to all new contracts and short-term spot agreements with Russian gas suppliers by the end of 2025. A full ban on remaining imports is planned by the end of 2027.
“No more will we allow our member states to be blackmailed. No more will we indirectly help fill up the war chest in the Kremlin,” Jorgensen added.
But not all member states are on board. Hungary, one of the EU’s most Russia-dependent countries, strongly criticized the proposal, calling it misguided and dangerous. “After the complete failure of the sanctions against Russia, the European Commission is now making another extremely serious mistake by forcibly, artificially and ideologically excluding energy sources from Russia out of Europe,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó wrote on Facebook.
Russia still supplies 17.5% of the bloc’s gas, according to EU data, and up to 19% by some estimates, such as those from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
To replace Russian energy, “the guiding principle is diversification,” said European Commission chief spokeswoman Paula Pinho. The plan includes sourcing more LNG from the United States, already the EU’s top supplier with a 45.3 percent market share. This plan begs the question if it is actually diversification, or just shifting dependency from Russia, to the U.S., with a much higher price to pay for energy.
