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

Ukraine’s new regional initiative has turned the Carpathians into a test of how far its neighbors will follow Kiev’s lead 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.

Read more Why are Hungary and Ukraine fighting again? The September summit marked the latest stage of this project.

Ukraine (backed by EU funding) attempted to reclaim its role as the primary “driving force” of the whole initiative by shifting the focus from environmental issues to matters essential for bolstering Ukraine’s influence on NATO’s eastern flank.

Ukraine’s autonomy is illusory, however.