Bulgarien, um russische Gasflüsse nach Ungarn und Slowakei im Jahr 2027 zu beenden

Wasn’t it 2026 a few days ago ?

Anyway, I wouldn’t trust anything that government says.

**The southeastern European country is home to the last entry point for Russian pipeline flows into the EU, which is currently in talks over a bill to end gas imports.**

BRUSSELS — Bulgaria is backing an EU plan to end Russian gas exports to the bloc by late-2027, the country’s top energy official said — a move that would effectively cut off pipeline supplies from Moscow to Hungary and Slovakia. 

“As an EU member state, Bulgaria aligns its actions with European legislation and policies, including the [proposed] phaseout … by the end of 2027,” Bulgarian Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov told POLITICO.

“By 1 January 2028, Russian gas consumption across Europe is expected to be fully phased out,” he added.

The comments come after Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov last Wednesday [said](https://www.bta.bg/en/news/world/972928-bulgaria-to-join-eu-s-decisions-on-termination-of-contracts-for-use-transit-of-#gas) his government was in favor of a phaseout following a fiery address by U.S. President Donald Trump at the United Nations General Assembly [calling for Europe to end its Russian energy purchases](https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-says-hell-talk-eu-countries-turning-screws-vladimir-putin/). 

“We … will join the EU decisions to end contracts for the use or transit of Russian natural gas in the short term,” Zhelyazkov said on the sidelines of the summit in New York. 

In June, Brussels [unveiled a new bill](https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_1504) that would ban Russian gas imports to the bloc, starting with short-term contracts this year and phasing out long-term deals by the end of 2027. EU countries and the European Parliament are currently holding parallel negotiations on the proposal.

Sofia hosts the last remaining entry point for Russian pipeline flows into the bloc via the TurkStream pipeline, after Ukraine [refused to renew a gas transport deal](https://www.politico.eu/article/robert-fico-vladimir-putin-cutting-off-russia-gas-to-the-eu/) through the country in January. Moscow’s other historic routes to the EU are either damaged or under sanctions. 

Although the comments amount to Bulgaria saying it will abide by EU law, they are likely to spark deep-seated anxiety in Hungary and Slovakia. 

Budapest and Bratislava — which on average still get [70 percent of their gas from Moscow](https://csd.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/publications_library/files/2025_05/The_Last_Mile_EN_WEB.pdf) — have long resisted EU efforts to phase out Russian energy imports, claiming doing so would hike prices given they have limited alternative supply routes.

Experts have [largely dismissed those claims](https://pro.politico.eu/news/205411), arguing both countries can find alternative imports via liquefied natural gas imports arriving at EU ports or additional pipeline shipments from Norway.

That’s a sentiment echoed by Stankov. “Hungary and Slovakia are not anticipated to face energy security challenges as a result [of the bill],” he said.