With The Exception Of Hungary-Slovakia, The European Union Stops Importing LNG Gas At The End Of 2027

JAKARTA - EU member states (EU) on Monday, October 20 agreed to stop importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia by the end of 2027.

This effort is part of the EU to cut off a long-standing dependence on Russia's pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the midst of an raging war in Ukraine.

This agreement was made after the energy ministers of EU countries met in Luxembourg and were approved by EU officials.

Denmark's energy minister, Lars Aagaard, who holds the post of president in European Union rotation, called this effort a "crucial" step to realize Europe's energy independence.

"Although we have worked hard and are trying to get Russian gas and oil out of Europe in recent years, we haven't achieved that yet," Aagaard said, quoted from AFP, Monday, October 20.

This effort to jointly import LNG from Russia in January 2027 is a form of another witness and occurred a year earlier than the previous EU parallel plan.

Sanctions in the EU are known to have unanimous approval from 27 EU member states, which are sometimes difficult to achieve.

In this agreement, all EU member countries agreed, except for Hungary and Slovakia, which diplomatically still have a dependence on importing Russian gas by pipeline.

"The real impact of this regulation is that our safe energy supply in Hungary will be disrupted," Hungarian's top diplomat Peter Szijjarto told reporters.