Hungarians and Czechs Cool on Ukraine’s ‘Carpathian 8’ Ambitions

More amenable partners Poland, on the other hand, as Ukraine’s strongest ally in the region, was represented by Prime Minister Donald Tusk and showed the clearest interest in the C8 format. For Poland, the appeal of the C8 appears to lie in the overlap between security and cross-border infrastructure. Projects presented at the summit included a 216-million-dollar industrial park and multimodal terminal on the Polish–Ukrainian border, designed to handle up to more than 2 million tonnes of cargo annually, as well as a 441-million-dollar plan by Ukrainian Railways to establish a low-cost passenger operator using European-gauge trains, with connections from Uzhhorod, Lviv and Kovel to EU cities including Warsaw. Together with cooperation on missile defence and the longer-term reconstruction of Ukraine, these plans give Warsaw several concrete reasons to remain involved, say experts. The summit also gave Warsaw and Kyiv an opportunity to inject new momentum into relations that have been strained in recent months. Tusk said he had come to demonstrate solidarity with Ukraine and discuss bilateral cooperation, including Poland’s participation in the European anti-ballistic missile initiative. After talks with Zelensky, the two leaders confirmed that Poland would join the coalition, and Tusk said Poland’s absence from the initiative when it was launched in Paris in July had been the result of “a certain misunderstanding”. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic – who will be the prime ministerial candidate for the ruling coalition in the snap election to be held on October 25 – made an appearance in person, which analysts say is in keeping with the strategy he has been following over the last few months that included a bilateral meeting with Zelensky in Belgrade and a multilateral forum in Kyiv. “I assume it has something to do with the elections approaching in Serbia, as Vucic now needs to show his more pro-Western face to keep support coming from the EU. He will not communicate it much at home, but will use his presence vocally when talking to EU counterparts,” AMO’s Cermak told BIRN. Indeed, Vucic suggested as much during the summit, when he presented the initiative as his personal commitment to Serbia: “I am doing all of this to further ensure stability and peace for our citizens and for Serbia.” Vucic said that Serbia has traditionally relied on the countries of the former Yugoslavia and also looked toward the West: “We were wrong: I believe that expanding and strengthening our relations within the broader Carpathian region will mean a great deal for Serbia.” By way of example, Vucic noted that the opening of the Belgrade–Budapest high-speed railway would further facilitate connectivity, while Serbia is also working to establish other better links with Romania, such as making progress in talks on the construction of the Timisoara–Belgrade motorway as well as connecting the two countries’ electricity transmission systems. Vucic also noted how 50 per cent of Serbian exports now go to Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic, while trade between Serbia and Ukraine has increased by 42 per cent (though he did not specify the period to which this increase referred). The Serbian Chamber of Commerce told the weekly Vreme in August that Serbian exports to Ukraine increased by 92.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, largely due to electricity exports. Romania was represented by President Nicusor Dan at the summit, where he signed a memorandum of understanding with Ukraine aimed at improving connectivity between the two countries by opening 10 new border crossing points and also upgrading infrastructure. Dan also said that protecting the rights of national minorities could be one of the priorities of the C8 initiative. “This format can make use of the linguistic and cultural wealth of the region, making the protection of the rights of national minorities a priority,” Dan said in his speech at the summit. According to Dan, the C8 could also become an additional tool for the European integration of EU candidate countries.