The European Union scrapped the April 15 date from its timetable for proposing a ban on Russian oil imports, as reported by Reuters and confirmed by European Commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen.
Earlier announcements had set the deadline for what is meant to be part of the REPowerEU roadmap, to be directly after Hungary’s April 12 national elections, but leaders decided not to include the issue on the agenda.
“I do not have a new date to give,” Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, the Commission’s spokesperson for energy, said on Tuesday morning.
U.S. President Trump has eased some sanctions on Russian oil in the wake of skyrocketing oil prices after the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran late last month. Some have wondered if the EU will also follow suit, but Itkonen claims otherwise.
“What I can reassure you of is that we remain committed to making this proposal,” she told press, as quoted by Euronews.
Brussels has banned purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) by the end of 2026 and pipeline gas by autumn 2027, both under the REPowerEU. Hungary and Slovakia have taken legal action against these measures and have said they will do the same if the ban on oil goes through.
In the meantime, both countries enjoy exemptions from other EU sanctions on Russian oil, despite its transit having been shut down since January after an attack on the Druzhba pipeline. While Kyiv has maintained that the pipeline will take time to repair, Hungary and Slovakia have accused Zelensky of purposely keeping it unoperational, in the hopes of creating an energy crisis in Hungary ahead of elections there next month.
Hungarian PM Orbán has called for Brussels to lift sanctions on Russian energy, given the crisis facing the continent across all sectors due to the surge in energy prices. The government has also introduced price caps in Hungary at gasoline stations for individuals and entrepreneurs.
