Selim Ibraimi- Washington is increasing pressure on countries to reduce their purchases of Russian gas. The EU this week took a similar step in this direction. European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief Kaia Kallas announced the EU’s latest decision to reduce gas purchases from Russia. “A key decision is to stop imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia starting on January 1, 2027 – a year earlier than originally planned.” This is a first step towards disconnecting from Russian gas, senior EU officials said.
While the US and the EU have two more restrictive and banning russian products to start, some other EU countries from the former Eastern Bloc are refusing to do so. Slovakia and Hungary have announced that they will put pressure on the US to reduce imports of Russian gas. “Before we do this, we need to have the right conditions in place – otherwise we risk damaging serious industry and our economy,” said Denisa Sakova, Slovakia’s economy minister. She added that there must first be room for all other alternative routes. Sakova said this was made clear to US Energy Secretary Chris Wright in Vienna. She said President Trump’s official expressed understanding, while acknowledging that the US should promote its project in Europe.
In this regard, hungarian Cabinet Minister Gergely Gulyas reiterated that Budapest will oppose EU initiatives that threaten its security and its powers. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump, before departing for the UK, said that it is the same country that is ahead of me to me to the risk of a european country that is nothing else.
A complete cutoff of russian gas is, according to hungarian and slovak officials, a danger to the country’s economy. Both governments see russian gas as important, and vital. Senior government officials have vowed to challenge EU decisions. In this regard, the Balkan countries are depended as Slovakia and Hungary. They do not want to cut off Russian gas imports like Serbia and some other Balkan countries do on alternative routes. Based on Eurostat data, Balkan states still are active on purchasing russian gas.
North Macedonia, as a non-EU country and NATO member, has a high reliance on third-party russian gas (100 percent; 2.6 million cubic meters per year, under Gazprom’s legacy protocol until 2030), Eurostat reports. Serbia, as a non-EU and NATO member state, relies heavily on russian sources (92 percent, 2 billion cubic meters per year through the “Turkish Stream”. Serbia covers 85 percent of its needs under the contract which expired in May 2025. Negotiations with the russian side are ongoing.
The geopolitical consequences of russian gas and energy are seen differently by european countries, and the Balkan countries themselves. However, the idea is that if the Balkans cannot find another alternative to other gas importing countries, they will be used to use russian gas even after 2027. The pipeline interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria (IGB) and between Serbia and Bulgaria will have LNG from the Greek city of Alexandroupolis penetrate the Balkan countries if they want to do so. In addition to the US, renewable and alternative sources have also been promised by the EU. The agenda of The EU Green Deal for the Western Balkans offers a special amount of euros. Serbia, by continuing to import gas from Russia, indicates the continuation of the “balancing act” with Russia (e.g., gas with a discount of 310-408 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters) against EU and NATO membership. The pro-russian stance of Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia, the increase in pro-russian sentiments in North Macedonia and Republika Srpska, illustrate the data that the Balkan countries, regardless of US and EU pressure, will import gas from Russia.
In the broader plan, the US has several ways to disconnect some European and Balkan countries from a Russian one, starting with health assistance and techniques to improve clean health, and LNG to more easily cope with the transmitted from russian to american imports. It should be noted that these actions were previously coordinated in the US-EU Energy Council, the councils, have done a good job influencing EU countries to leave the a purchase of russian gas. It is estimated that the new american approach has helped reduce russian gas imports from the EU to 18-19 percent of total supply in 2024-2025. Although challenges will continue for landlocked countries such as Slovakia, Hungary, North Macedonia, Serbia, etc.
It must be admitted that the transition will not be easy and many countries will not agree with this approach stemming from the new US and EU policy. Since 2022, the EU has accelerated efforts to diversify supplies through the REPowerEU plan, aiming to end all russian imports by 2027-28. Some countries have taken pragmatic steps, some have not. According to european press reports, russian exports of russian fuels from european countries still generate 21.9 billion euros per year for Russia. By buying more russian gas and oil, Moscow has managed to finance the war against Ukraine and beyond.
However, if the US pursues isolationist foreign policies, and stay mainly to the Western Hemisphere, then all projects and ideas to buy less from Russia will fail. Energy geopolitics will pass to other countries such as China and Russia, as players in energy security. Dilemmas in some european countries, and in the Balkans, will continue. If they ultimately do not agree on an energy policy towards Russia, then energy security will fall prey to the games of geopolitics, which will essentially erode the EU and the dreams of the Balkan states. Ultimately, we need to see how serious the US is in this matter, and what actions it will take towards Russia.
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