Hungary to challenge EU decision to phase out Russian energy imports

BUDAPEST, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Hungary will challenge a European Union decision on phasing out Russian energy sources at the EU's Court of Justice, its Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Wednesday.

The European Union's members have agreed to phase out Russian gas imports by late 2027 as part of an effort to end the bloc's decades-long dependency on Russian energy. The decision went against Hungary and Slovakia's opposition.

Slovakia is also weighing its legal options against the EU order, as the countries are both still highly reliant on gas and oil supplies from Moscow and fearful that more-costly alternatives will damage their economies.

"Accepting and implementing this Brussels order is impossible for Hungary," Szijjarto said during a briefing broadcast on his Facebook page.

He said the move violated the EU's founding document and that it was a sanctions measure disguised as trade policy.

Szijjarto said that Hungary would formally bring the matter to the EU's top court once the decision was finalised in Brussels.

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Szijjarto said he had talked with his colleague from Slovakia on the matter and agreed on coordination.

On Wednesday, Slovakia's government - which like Hungary's has kept open relations with Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 - discussed its legal options, but did not say what action it would take.

It had flagged last month that it would look at legal means while saying much would depend on how the European Commission fulfilled guarantees over possible shortages or price spikes given to Slovakia this year to help it in the phase-out.

"We have sufficient legal grounds to consider filing a lawsuit. We agreed that we will soon present to what extent the European Commission has fulfilled the commitments it gave us," Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Wednesday.

Slovakia won the guarantees when it held up an EU sanctions package against Russia, which requires unanimous backing in the bloc. The energy phase-out plans, though, are legislative and only require majority support from member states, leaving Hungary and Slovakia with no way of blocking the approval.

(Reporting by Anita Komuves in Budapest and Jason Hovet in Prague, editing by Ed Osmond)