Today, for the first time, here in Ukraine, in our part of the Carpathians, we hold a Summit that brings together all the Carpathian states, the regions and communities of our countries. We are launching a new format – “C8,” the Carpathian Eight – bringing together us and our neighbors in Europe: Romania, Serbia, Poland, Slovakia, Czechia, Austria, Hungary, and, of course, the European Union as a whole.

This marks the start of a movement that should bring our countries even closer together and create another strong framework for cooperation at the EU level – security, energy, a significant expansion of logistics and cross-border economic cooperation, as well as substantial support for our communities.