President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with participants of the Youth Congress of the Carpathian Integration Initiative (CII), held today in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. Around 250 young people from the Carpathian regions of Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, and Austria took part in the event.

Today, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree establishing the annual Hand-to-Hand Combat Cup of the President of Ukraine, attended the final competition in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, and presented awards to the tournament’s winners and medalists.

The countries of the Carpathian region have significant potential for cooperation in defense, energy, and transport, which can deliver real economic growth, investment, and jobs. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this during the first Carpathian Economic Forum, which he attended together with President of Romania Nicușor Dan.

And we have here almost 1,400 participants. More than 800 representatives of governments, regions and communities, and more than 500 business representatives from all C8 countries. My congratulations. And this is the first summit of this scale for our macro-region.

Ukraine has launched a new cooperation format – the Carpathian Integration Initiative that brings together all Carpathian countries, their regions, and communities across the Carpathian Mountains to facilitate cooperation at the macro-regional level.

During the Carpathian Summit, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held separate bilateral meetings with President of Romania Nicușor Dan, President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, and Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk.

We are convinced that the successful implementation of the Carpathian Integration Initiative will strengthen the stability and resilience of the countries in the region and become an important additional contribution to joint efforts to ensure lasting peace on the European continent.