Which countries in Europe still rely on Russian energy?

Amid last month’s diplomatic efforts to pressure Russia into peace negotiations, new data showed that the European Union had imported Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) worth around €4.48 billion ($5.23 billion) in the first half of 2025.

This was an increase from €3.47 billion over the same period last year, according to the EU statistics office Eurostat.

The bloc has been pushing to end its energy dependence on Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022, aiming to curb Moscow’s ability to finance the war.

Unlike Russian oil and coal, the EU has not imposed an outright ban on gas, due to ongoing dependencies among some member states. LNG and gas via pipelines, including the TurkStream pipeline, continue to flow into the bloc, albeit at much lower levels than before 2022.

However, the European Commission has drawn up plans to phase out all Russian gas and oil imports by 2028.

Under the proposal, new contracts would be prohibited from January 1, 2026. Existing short-term contracts would end by June 17, 2026, and long-term contracts would be banned from January 1, 2028.

These measures still require approval from the European Parliament and by at least 15 of the 27 EU member states, representing 65% of the bloc’s population.

Hungary, Slovakia rely on Russian oil

Significant inroads have been made. Russian oil imports have shrunk from 27% at the beginning of 2022 to 3% in 2024, according to the commission. By comparison, gas imports from Russia decreased from 45% in 2021 to 19% in 2024.

Hungary and Slovakia are the only two EU countries to still import large amounts of Russian oil. The pair, alongside the Czech Republic, were given an exemption to the EU embargo on Russian oil.

The Czech Republic made efforts to end its reliance and has not imported Russian oil since April, thanks to an expansion to the western Transalpine Pipeline (TAL), which transports oil from the Port of Trieste.

Hungary and Slovakia, on the other hand, have not sought to wean themselves off Russian energy. Recent attacks by Ukraine on the Druzhba pipeline underlined their reliance and the resulting supply instability.

Ukraine regularly strikes Russian oil and gas infrastructure in response to attacks on its own territory since the start of Russia’s full-scale assault.

There is a possible alternative, but the two countries are reluctant to rely on receiving their oil via the Adria oil pipeline.

“Since the capacity of the Croatian pipeline is smaller than Hungary’s and Slovakia’s demand for oil, if deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline become impossible for a long time, then the oil supply to Hungary and Slovakia will also become impossible,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjárto said last week.

“Not for political reasons, but because of physical reality. Energy supply is not a political or ideological issue, you need the pipeline and the oil in it,” he added.

Croatia disputes this, with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Economy Minister Ante Šušnjar stating that the Adria pipeline has sufficient capacity. They added that transport costs would decrease with higher volumes.

Despite these assurances, Hungary and Slovakia remain reluctant to rely more heavily on the Adria pipeline.

Slovakia, which also receives natural gas from Russia, has said it will consider legal action if it is not granted an exemption from the new commission proposal or compensated for ending these imports.

Russian energy dependence wanes elsewhere

Bulgaria stopped importing Russian gas in April 2022 when the government refused Gazprom’s demand to be paid in roubles. Sofia received a temporary derogation for Russian crude oil until the end of 2024, but halted imports ahead of schedule in March that year.

Bulgaria continues to allow Russian gas to pass through its territory via the Balkan Stream pipeline, an extension of TurkStream that runs from Turkey to non EU-member Serbia.

This transit will be exempt under the proposed new ban as it is delivered to a country outside the bloc. However, much of the gas ultimately reaches Hungary – a practice that will have to end under the new EU ban on Russian gas.

France fuels Russian LNG imports

When it comes to Russian LNG, some European countries are more reliant than others.

In 2024, France, Spain and Belgium accounted for 85% of Europe’s Russian LNG imports.

Last year’s rise in imports was propelled by France as well as the Netherlands, which boosted their Russian LNG imports by 81% compared to 2023, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

By contrast, other countries have much lower exposure to Russian gas overall. In Italy, the EU’s third largest economy, less than 2% of total gas imports come from Russia.

Germany has completely ended Russian gas imports, although state-owned SEFE – formerly Gazprom Germania – continues to import Russian LNG into the EU under an old long-term contract.

To achieve a comprehensive phase-out of Russian energy imports by 2028, the bloc faces a complex task: balancing security of supply, market stability and political consensus, while continuing to diversify sources and infrastructure.

The content of this article is based on reporting by AFP, ANSA, BTA, CTK, dpa, HINA, TASR and STA as part of the European Newsroom (enr) project.