Hungary Dismisses 'Unenforceable' EU Gas Cutback Plan

The European energy ministers gathered to discuss the possibility of reducing their total gas consumption by 15% as the continent's gas reserves remain far from being full in the second half of summer. The slower filling rate comes amid gas supply distortions caused by western sanctions against Russia.

Hungary has dismissed the EU's proposal to tone-down natural gas consumption, voting against the measure at the meeting of the bloc's energy ministers.

"We were the only ones to signal that we are voting no, that is Hungary is voting no to this decree, given that this decree completely ignores the interests of Hungarian people," Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto stated.

Budapest called the move "unenforceable" and "unjustifiable", and highlighted that the proposal is either "useless" or outright "harmful".

Despite Hungary's opposition, EU countries reached a deal to reduce domestic gas demand in their respective countries by 15% by March 2023. The baseline agreement suggests voluntary measures to reduce gas consumption. However, the deal contains a trigger mechanism that will be activated if the voluntary measures do not yield the desired results and do not help save enough fuel.

EU Sanctions Force Bloc Into Gas-Saving Mode

The deal's adoption was welcomed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who claimed that it would help address potential gas supply disruptions. She used the opportunity to repeat the EU's claim that the current drop in gas imports from Russia was voluntarily triggered by President Vladimir Putin.

"The EU has taken a decisive step to face down the threat of a full gas disruption by Putin," von der Leyen stated.

Moscow and the country's gas exporter, Gazprom, in turn, repeatedly pointed at western sanctions' backlash as the main culprit behind the reduction in the volumes of gas pumped via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. The latter's turbines that pump the fuel require routine maintenance and some of them had been undergoing it in Canada when sanctions were introduced – specifically ones banning the export of energy sector-related equipment.

Sanctions backfired when Canada refused to release the repaired turbines so that they could be returned to Russia and installed in the pipeline infrastructure. Canada and the EU have since undertaken efforts to release the turbines, but not before Gazprom was forced to cut pumping volumes at Nord Stream 1 by half to preserve the remaining pumps. It recently announced a new reduction to exports via the pipeline, as the turbines have still failed to reach Russia.

Amid the gas supply crisis, the Kremlin reminded that it could have been avoided if the EU hadn't frozen the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was built by the start of the year and was awaiting certification. The EU turned town the already built project, citing Russia's decision to conduct the special military operation in Ukraine, which western countries branded an "invasion".