The Carpathian Eight: An alliance in the mountains – or a supply route for the next war?

The inaugural summit of the new Carpathian Eight (C8) cooperation format, initiated by Ukraine with EU support, took place on September 18-20. Leaders and representatives from eight countries in the Carpathian region were invited to discuss security, energy, logistics, and cross-border cooperation. The initiative – intended to unite nations, some of which do not officially supply weapons to Ukraine but wish to foster “good-neighborly relations” – has turned into a zero-sum game. Yielding no significant economic benefits and failing to address real economic challenges, it only serves to isolate the region from pan-continental logistics corridors.

Is the Carpathian Initiative a Ukrainian or European project?

The foundation for the Carpathian Initiative was laid by Ukraine back in 2001-2003, when it acted as the primary initiator and depositary of the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians. Initially, the format was strictly environmental and conservation-oriented. Countries of the Visegrad Group, and primarily Poland, breathed geopolitical life and economic scale into the concept. For years, Warsaw actively advocated for the creation of a full-fledged EU Macro-Regional Strategy for the Carpathian Region (EUSCARP), aiming to transform the shared mountain range into a major logistics and infrastructure hub.

Over time, the EU fully took over this regional initiative, turning it into a systemic tool for the “soft integration” of Ukraine. After developing a strategic vision for the region in 2009 and adopting the Carpathian Roadmap in 2019, Brussels institutionalized the project in line with its own bureaucratic standards. What began as a modest environmental initiative has, through the efforts of European neighbors, transformed into a large-scale EU geopolitical project aimed at drawing Ukraine into the European orbit via infrastructure grants.