- The European Commission postpones the legislative proposal to permanently ban the import of Russian oil.
- The original deadline for the proposal was April 15, three days after the Hungarian elections.
- The delay is related to the US-Israeli war against Iran and expensive oil.
On April 15, the European Commission will not submit a legislative proposal for a permanent ban on the import of Russian oil, as originally planned. This follows from the updated legislative program of the EU published on Tuesday, which is referred to by the Reuters agency.
Reuters wrote a month ago that the EC plans to submit a legislative proposal to ban the import of Russian oil on April 15, that is, three days after the parliamentary elections in Hungary. Two EU officials told the agency at the time that the timing was to prevent the oil import ban from becoming a major factor in Hungary’s election campaign.
A Reuters source said that the proposal will eventually be tabled later due to “current geopolitical developments” as the US-Israeli war against Iran has caused oil prices to soar.
The EU has already imposed sanctions on the import of Russian oil by sea. Thanks to an exception, Slovakia and Hungary can continue to import it via the Družba pipeline. However, the EC wants to enshrine the ban on its import into legislation. Such a measure would therefore remain in force even if a future peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine included the lifting of anti-Russian sanctions.
Hungary and Slovakia are still dependent on Russian oil supplies and do not agree with their ban. According to Reuters, it is therefore expected that the EU will bypass Budapest and Bratislava’s attempt to block the planned permanent ban on the import of Russian oil by means of a legislative proposal, the approval of which will be sufficient for a qualified majority of the member states. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said this month that a return to Russian energy would be a “strategic mistake” and increase Europe’s vulnerability.
