The European Commission proposes that Hungarian customs officers themselves monitor whether gas is imported into their country from Russia, if the proposal to ban the import of Russian fossil fuels into the EU is approved, a spokesman for the commission specified today at a press conference in response to questions. As BTA reported, the commission proposed a gradual cessation of gas and oil imports from Russia by the end of 2027.
The spokesman clarified in response to a question about the "Turkish Stream" gas pipeline that the proposal concerns imports into EU countries and therefore does not apply to Serbia. According to him, the origin of the gas in the pipelines cannot be established, but Hungarian customs will have to monitor documents to ensure that European rules are not violated if the Commission's proposal is supported by the EU Council and the European Parliament.
We do not have clarity about the concluded supply contracts from Russia, we cannot distinguish the gas in the gas pipelines by origin and molecule, customs officers have to rely on the tax declarations of importers, the spokesman said. He added that Serbia is expected to retain the possibility of importing Russian gas, but only for its own needs. According to the spokesman, it is not yet possible to say exactly how the proposed new measures will be implemented.