Ukraine hosts inaugural Carpathian Eight summit, launching new regional cooperation format

Ukraine is hosting the first-ever Carpathian Eight (C8) Summit in the mountain resort of Bukovel, Ivano-Frankivsk region, marking the launch of a new transregional cooperation format that brings together eight Carpathian countries and the European Union.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the C8 initiative on September 18, 2026, describing it as a movement that should draw neighboring states closer and create an additional framework for cooperation at the EU level. The format unites Ukraine with Romania, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, and Serbia.

The three-day event (September 18–20) focuses on security, energy, logistics, cross-border trade, and support for local communities. Zelenskyy emphasized that the Carpathians should evolve from a tourism and environmental zone into a driver of economic growth, investment, and energy exports. He noted that security remains the immediate priority given the ongoing war.

High-level attendees include Romanian President Nicușor Dan, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico cancelled due to illness and sent a representative instead. EU institutions are also participating. Polish Prime Minister Tusk said the format could help Ukraine advance toward EU membership by fostering practical regional cooperation.

Hungary did not send a head of state or government to the opening of the Carpathian Eight (C8) Summit. President Zelenskyy said Hungarian representatives would join later, during the economic part of the event.

Hungary and Ukraine have had persistently difficult relations over Transcarpathia (Zakarpattia), the western Ukrainian region that is home to a Hungarian minority of roughly 100,000 people. Budapest has long accused Kyiv of restricting the community’s language, education, and cultural rights, particularly after Ukraine’s 2017 education law reduced Hungarian-language instruction. Under Viktor Orbán, Hungary repeatedly blocked Ukraine’s EU accession path over the issue. A June 2026 agreement under Prime Minister Péter Magyar committed Ukraine to restore broader linguistic, educational, cultural, and political rights, allowing Hungary to support the opening of Ukraine’s first EU accession cluster. Implementation has been slower than hoped: Hungary continues to delay further clusters until Ukraine’s parliament adopts the promised legislation, even as both sides have taken modest steps toward reconciliation, including Ukraine’s parliamentary recognition of Soviet-era deportations of Hungarians from the region.

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Around 550 business representatives are attending the economic track. Zelenskyy said investment and trade agreements worth €1 billion are prepared for signing, with nearly 100 projects totaling almost €40 billion presented from all eight countries. He predicted that economic growth in the Carpathian macro-region could outpace the EU average in coming years.

The choice of Bukovel — a modern ski resort in the Ukrainian Carpathians – underscores the initiative’s geographic and symbolic focus. Officials highlighted Ukraine’s role in keeping trade and transport corridors open since Russia’s 2022 invasion, even as some participating countries (Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia) have declined to supply weapons.

Zelenskyy framed the C8 as complementary to existing regional formats, linking northern Baltic-Nordic cooperation with southern Danube and Black Sea efforts. The summit includes political sessions, an economic forum, youth events, and meetings of local authorities.

By hosting the founding meeting on its own territory during wartime, Ukraine is positioning itself as a hub for a new layer of European regional integration centred on the Carpathian mountains.

Caption: Ukraine is hosting the first-ever Carpathian Eight (C8) Summit in the mountain resort of Bukovel [Website of the President of Ukraine]