Hungary plans to end Russian gas imports within a year

Hungary’s energy minister just drew a line in the sand on Russian gas. Economy and Energy Minister István Kapitány said the country can secure all of its natural gas from non-Russian sources by October 2027, a timeline that would have been unthinkable under the previous government. The announcement, made in an interview on September 18, represents one of the most concrete steps yet in Budapest’s post-Orbán foreign policy realignment. Under Viktor Orbán’s 16-year rule, Russian gas accounted for roughly 75% of Hungary’s imports, backed by long-term contracts with Gazprom stretching into the 2030s. How Hungary plans to pull it off The strategy rests on three pillars: rerouting pipeline imports through friendly neighbors, expanding access to liquefied natural gas, and leaning on domestic infrastructure upgrades. Budapest has been negotiating with Romania and Croatia to widen its import corridors. That includes enhancements to the Adria pipeline, which connects Hungary to Croatia’s LNG terminal on the Adriatic coast. Kapitány pointed to existing pipeline infrastructure that already allows Hungary to source gas at competitive prices from these partners. Hungary’s state-owned MVM energy g...