The European Commission will submit a legal proposal for a permanent ban on Russian oil imports on April 15, three days after Hungary's parliamentary elections, Reuters reported, citing a document and EU officials.
Two EU officials said the timing had been chosen to prevent the oil ban from becoming a major factor in Budapest's election campaign. Hungary and Slovakia, which still depend on Russian oil imports, are strongly opposed to any ban.
In the April 12 election, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his nationalist Fidesz party are facing their biggest challenge to their power in 16 years.
The EU has already imposed sanctions on imports of Russian oil transported by sea. But the bloc wants to enshrine a full phase-out of Russian oil in legislation that would remain in force even if a peace deal in the Ukraine war leads to the lifting of EU sanctions.
The Commission plans to propose a ban on Russian oil on April 15. However, the EU's agenda is tentative and the date could still change.
Russian oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline have been cut off since January 27, when Kiev said a Russian drone strike hit equipment on the pipeline in western Ukraine. Slovakia and Hungary say Ukraine is to blame for the prolonged outage, while Kiev says it is trying to repair the pipeline.
Orban's government, which has maintained close ties with Moscow since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, has vetoed new EU sanctions against Russia, as well as a huge loan to Kiev over the dispute over the Druzhba pipeline. The European Union is expected to circumvent a possible attempt by Hungary and Slovakia to block a planned permanent ban on Russian oil imports by using a law that can be approved by a qualified majority of member states.
European Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen said the proposal would phase out Russian oil imports by the end of 2027 at the latest.
Until the last quarter of last year, the EU imported just 1% of its oil from Russia, largely as a result of the bloc's sanctions on Russian offshore crude.
Last month, the EU passed a law to completely cut off Russian gas by the end of 2027. Hungary and Slovakia have vowed to challenge the law in court.
Orban has described Hungary's April elections as a stark choice between "war or peace", stressing that his opponents would drag the country into the war raging next door. in Ukraine - something they categorically deny.