“The ruling parties will have to win the [Hungarian parliamentary] elections to follow the lawsuit through to its end,” Péter Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement.

He also noted the recent publication of the decision banning EU member states from buying Russian gas and oil, according to news wire MTI.

“I’d like to make it clear that Hungary only has more expensive and less reliable alternatives. Without Russian gas and crude, the country’s energy security cannot be guaranteed, neither can the achievements of the utility price cap scheme be maintained.”

“We’ll protect Hungarians … and won’t allow Brussels to kill the utility price caps,” he said.

Hungary is moving to have REPowerEU annulled, arguing that energy imports can only be banned by issuing sanctions requiring a unanimous vote, he said.

“That it was adopted while disguised as a trade policy measure is laughable.”

Also, the EU’s Fundamental Treaty “clearly stipulates” that member states have the right to determine their energy mix; the decision is out of the EU’s scope, he said.

Further, the EU “has a rule called the principle of energy solidarity. This essentially means that the energy supply of member states must be secured. This Brussels decision clearly upends that; it definitely does so in Hungary’s case,” he said.

Szijjártó said he expected the lawsuit to take up to two years.

“We must win the elections to see it through to the end. The other side has experts lined up from the international energy industry who have earlier lobbied for us to buy more expensive energy from the West rather than the cheaper alternatives from Russia,” he said.

“It is obvious that the other side will not see this lawsuit through if they win the election, and that would bring three-fold hikes in utility prices. I suggest we don’t give that a chance,” Szijjártó said.

What is REPowerEU?

REPowerEU is the European Commission’s strategy to reduce the EU’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels and accelerate the transition to clean, secure energy. Launched in May 2022 in response to the energy market disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the plan aims to save energy, diversify supply sources and increase production of renewable energy across the bloc, according to the official European Commission website.

Under REPowerEU, the EU has already cut its reliance on Russian energy significantly and is working to end imports of Russian gas, oil and nuclear materials in a coordinated and secure way while boosting energy efficiency and stabilizing prices.

The initiative also includes measures such as joint procurement mechanisms, enhanced infrastructure investment and requirements for member states to submit national diversification plans with milestones for phasing out Russian energy. Funding of nearly EUR 300 billion, primarily through the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility, supports projects that expand renewables, improve grid resilience and strengthen energy security.