Hungary Refuses to Join Ukraine’s C8 Cooperation Initiative

Hungary’s Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced Budapest will not be joining Ukraine’s new Carpathian Eight (C8) cooperation initiative, designed to deepen regional security through joint initiatives and investments. When the initiative was founded in Bukovel, in Ukraine’s western Ivano-Frankivisk region on Friday, Sept. 18, it was presented as comprising Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine. However, Hungarian outlet HVG reported that, despite first reports identifying Hungary as a member, Magyar said Budapest had received – but declined – an invitation to join.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “They invited us, and for good reason we did not go,” Magyar said, “believe me, Hungary is not taking part in this,” he continued. Subsequently, Hungary’s foreign minister confirmed to the outlet that the country has not joined and does not intend to join the political format. Neither offered any further explanation for the decision, leaving unanswered why Budapest chose to remain outside the format despite acknowledging the invite. Hungary-Ukraine relations growing more tense In what seemed to be breaking with former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s approach and initially casting himself as a partner to Kyiv, Magyar now presides over a diplomatic relationship with Ukraine that has become noticeably more tense. While Kyiv fulfilled conditions for opening new EU accession clusters, Budapest has blocked the start of negotiations on clusters 2 and 3 four times by Sept. 8, while also refusing to disclose which legislative steps it expects Ukraine to take in order to lift the ban. Other Topics of Interest EU Extends Russia Sanctions for 3 Years, Delists 2 Oligarchs EU ambassadors agreed to extend sanctions for three years after failing to reach an agreement twice. Before that, the country had also delayed a joint EU letter on Ukraine’s and Moldova’s bids that required unanimous approval from all 27 member states. The Hungarian Foreign Ministry continuously points to minority-rights concerts as justification, a line first used by Orbán during his tenure, whose government stalled opening the initial “Fundamentals” cluster for 17 months over the status of ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia. Magyar appeared to break from that approach in June, scoring what he described as a “historic agreement” with President Volodymyr Zelensky that formally secured the educational, cultural, linguistic and political rights of Hungarian communities in Ukraine. Yet, despite the agreement, Budapest continues to block the opening of internal-market and competitiveness clusters for Ukraine. The obstruction also slows Moldova’s accession path as the processes of both countries remain intertwined. On the same day Ukraine launched the summit, Economy and Energy Minister István Kapitány told Telex that Hungary could “break away from Russian gas within a year,” outlining plans to replace Gazprom supplies with alternative routes and contracts by October 2027. Despite beginning negotiations with Croatia over operating the Adria pipeline, his comments do not necessarily mean Budapest would make a formal decision to terminate its existing contracts with Moscow. However, the minister also said that a government review of the Russian-built Paks II nuclear power plant project should be completed by the end of 2026. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.