"EU lead lawmakers on the Russian gas ban laid down the gauntlet to Hungary and Slovakia and claimed the new legislation was 'strong and sound' - as legal challenges appeared almost certain - after the parliament voted by 500 to 120 to approve the phase-out on Wednesday. "Hungary's foreign minister… recently said that they would take legal action against the measure once it's passed, arguing that this move to ban Russian gas and LNG imports really falls more under sanctions power that would require unanimous approval. How confident are you that this ban would stand legal scrutiny?" they were asked at the press conference following the vote. "Hungary has elections next year in April or something, and they have to come up with very loud announcements, how they will sue European Union and et cetera, et cetera. And I think our legislation is a very strong one and sound one," Inese Vaidere replied. Ville Niinisto from the Greens added: "Well obviously they have a possibility to sue the proposal or the law in the EU courts. But having worked with these issues for a long time, I mean, I did my master's thesis 22 years ago on Russian foreign policy and how they use energy as a tool of geopolitical pressure." Asked about widespread dissent - and not just from Hungary and Slovakia - Niinisto appeared to admit that others had been strong-armed into the legislation. "I can say that there were different groups of member states. So there was, especially this to Hungary and Slovakia, which are publicly well known, who use still a lot of Russian gas and also face political hesitancy in moving away from it… Then we have countries in southeastern Europe who were worried about sources and prices. And then we have some countries in Western Europe that still have high LNG levels of imports that needed to feel certain that they can exit that dependency," he admitted. "I think they kind of like adjusted to understand that this is going to happen and it's no point opposing it," he added. The legislation, part of the REPowerEU plan, sets a phase-out of all Russian gas, including pipeline and LNG. Bans on short-term contracts begin in April/June 2026, with long-term LNG and pipeline contracts ending by early and September 2027 respectively, backed by penalties for non-compliance. Hungarian PM Viktor Orban and his foreign minister Peter Szijjarto have blasted the bloc's use of the 'majority vote' to pass the measure, saying it was 'unlawful' to use such a trade mechanism for what was clearly an economic sanction - which would require unanimity. Both Hungary and Slovakia have said they are considering legal action in the European Courts, claiming it will be disastrous to their economies which rely heavily on the imports."