France and Belgium, the two largest buyers of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), refuse to support the European Commission’s plan to abandon gas supplies from Russia.
According to Politico, these countries are demanding additional guarantees regarding the economic and legal consequences of this step before making a decision.
In particular, France, which buys the most Russian LNG, says it prefers a strategy of seeking alternative supplies.
Belgium, which ranks second, wants to receive a report detailing the economic consequences before making a decision.
“We are defending the European diversification strategy… which is already on the table,” French Energy Minister Marc Ferracci said in an interview with Politico, referring to France’s plan to replace Russian supplies with Qatari products.
The French minister also raised the issue of the “legal certainty” of Brussels’ proposal, fearing that private companies could face Russian lawsuits over unfulfilled contracts.
The hesitation on the part of France and Belgium contradicts the position of other major importers of Russian LNG in the EU: Spain and the Netherlands. Both countries have stated that they are ready to support the future plan.
In 2024, these four countries imported 16.77 million tons of Russian liquefied gas, according to data from the Kpler commodity platform, accounting for 97% of total EU imports and more than half of Moscow’s global exports. Together, they spent more than €6 billion on LNG purchases from Russia.
Support from all four countries will be crucial for the European Commission because Hungary and Slovakia are likely to attempt to block the ban on continuing purchases of Russian energy resources.
In addition, many politicians and industry representatives in the EU are calling for a return to Russian energy supplies after the end of Russia’s war against Ukraine, complaining about high electricity prices in Europe.
EU countries are currently considering conducting an economic and legal analysis across the Union.
One EU representative said that the European Commission is preparing “a document that will analyze the impact” of these measures.
The European Commission has presented a roadmap for completely stopping Russian gas imports by the end of 2027, as well as minimizing Russian oil imports.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó criticized the plan, calling it an attack on Hungary’s sovereignty.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico also said he did not support the European Commission’s proposed roadmap to end imports of Russian energy.
Hungary and Slovakia are the only EU countries that rely on Russian gas and oil pipelines as their main source.
