The first Carpathian Eight summit has kicked off in Ukraine
On September 18, Ukraine hosted the inaugural summit of the new regional format, the C8—“Carpathian Eight.” The initiative brings together Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Austria, and Serbia. The summit is taking place in Bukovel, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, and will run through September 20.
According to the organizers’ vision, the C8 is intended to serve as a platform for regional political dialogue, economic development, investment, security, and cross-border cooperation.
Key areas of focus also include energy, transportation and logistics, infrastructure, and support for joint regional projects.
Eight countries have joined the new format:
- Ukraine;
- Poland;
- Slovakia;
- the Czech Republic;
- Romania;
- Hungary;
- Austria;
- Serbia.
Officially, C8 is positioned as the founding summit of a new regional initiative aimed at transforming the Carpathian region into an area of closer cooperation in the fields of security, the economy, investment, and cross-border cooperation.
The summit will also include work on investment projects in the fields of energy, transportation and logistics, industry, infrastructure, the agri-food sector, and healthcare.
The Carpathian 8 Summit will take place September 18–20, 2026, in Bukovel. The program includes a series of panel discussions, meetings, and discussions on joint projects.
In particular, the announced topics include the development of the Carpathian region, attracting investment, local and regional cooperation, and the creation of an interconnected and sustainable energy system.
The summit will also feature an Investment Lab, where dozens of joint projects will be presented to partners. The organizers report 90 projects with a potential investment need of $10.7 billion.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić arrived in Ukraine at the invitation of Volodymyr Zelenskyy to participate in the “Carpathian Eight” summit. This was reported by Glavkom on September 18.
Vucic stated that Serbia views this new format as an important project for the economic, transportation, and infrastructure interconnectivity of the countries in the broader Carpathian region.
Separately, the Serbian president highlighted opportunities for developing transportation links, particularly rail and road routes. According to him, Belgrade is ready to participate in developing connections with Romania and Hungary, as well as other transportation projects in the region.
Thus, the “Carpathian Eight” is being launched as a new multilateral format within which the countries plan to coordinate projects in the fields of security, energy, transportation, investment, and cross-border cooperation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the launch of the new format.
Earlier, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš expressed his support for Ukraine during a speech at the Prague Defense Summit. The Czech Prime Minister agreed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s view that ballistic missiles pose the greatest threat to European security, requiring the development of a joint European system to counter them.
The ninth “Summit for Action in Support of Ukraine”—an annual gathering of American activists and supporters of Ukraine—has begun in Washington. During the event, participants are discussing further support for Kyiv and holding meetings with representatives of the U.S. Congress.
