Via Carpatia - 2024

Via Carpatia 2024: thousands of viewers in Ukraine and the EU watched the Forum broadcast.

The panel discussions at the 7th Via Carpatia International Forum of Central and Eastern Europe were broadcast live by Espreso TV and Poland’s public broadcaster TVP Worldwide, while reports on the event were aired by Japan’s NHK and Germany’s ZDF. Representatives of around seventy Ukrainian and foreign media outlets were accredited to cover the Forum.
The international Forum took place over three days in Kyiv. For the first time, Via Carpatia guests were welcomed in Ukraine’s capital rather than the Carpathian region. The Forum brought together leading analysts, politicians, diplomats, military personnel and experts from both countries. The delegation of Polish parliamentarians was led by Marcin Bosacki, Chair of the Polish-Ukrainian Parliamentary Group in the Polish Sejm.

Cultural diplomacy, information and military security, and key sectors for cooperation with the EU were the subjects of panel discussions at the Ukrainian-Polish meeting.
“Our shared priority is the defence of Europe”, said Vasyl Bodnar, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Poland, at the opening of the international conference. He expressed hope for Poland’s support during its presidency of the European Union the following year in opening the EU’s doors to Ukraine.

Marcin Bosacki, Member of the Polish Sejm and Chair of the Polish-Ukrainian Parliamentary Group, stressed that Ukraine has no closer partner in the world than Poland.
“Ukraine and Poland share strategic interests. If Ukraine is free, self-sufficient and a member of the EU and NATO, Poland will also be safer and more developed”, Marcin Bosacki emphasised.
Security and defence, energy cooperation and the reconstruction of Ukraine were the subjects of panel discussions at which speakers made important statements.

Ukraine is counting heavily on the solidarity of our Euro-Atlantic partners, as the scale of destruction caused by the war amounts to around US$500 billion. This was emphasised by Oleksii Riabykin, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister for Development of Communities and Territories.

Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Energy Mykola Kolisnyk stressed the importance of strategic partnership and mutual support between Ukraine and Poland: we have interconnected gas and electricity infrastructure, shared green transition goals and common objectives for expanding capacity.

Artem Kovalov, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament and Co-Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Group for Interparliamentary Relations with the Republic of Poland, stressed that Poland has already proved itself to be a leading logistics and military hub for Ukraine. After our victory, Poland’s role in Ukraine’s reconstruction will only grow.
“The legislative and executive branches must work together, especially when we are talking about European integration”, emphasised Mykola Kniazhytskyi, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament and Co-Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Group for Interparliamentary Relations with the Republic of Poland. During the Forum’s security discussions, he noted that Russia would try to destabilise Ukraine’s relations with its Western partners and the United States. Poland, he said, has become the leader in supporting Ukraine in Europe.

“At the parliamentary level, we have an effective dialogue. We have also agreed to establish joint groups to work in various fields and attract funding for the recovery of our country. The views of Polish parliamentarians influence their government’s decisions to a certain extent. Poland’s experience is invaluable to Ukrainians, at both the national and local government levels. We need this experience for our European integration”, Kniazhytskyi said.

He also presented the work of the Defence Information Consortium to Forum participants. Security and defence specialists prepare analytical briefs to meet the country’s defence needs. This enables the state to receive independent expert assessments and consult leading analysts. “Our task was to create an exceptionally strong pool of experts to serve the needs of Ukrainian defence and the Ukrainian state. The All-Ukrainian Democratic Forum and Espreso TV support this initiative”, Mykola Kniazhytskyi explained.

“As a representative of local government in Poland, I can say that we also have things to learn from you — specifically, how you work with critical infrastructure and self-defence,” stressed Jacek Karnowski, Member of the Polish Sejm, during the discussion on reconstruction.
He also advised decentralising power as much as possible. “In my view, as much power as possible should be transferred to the lowest level, as this ensures the greatest efficiency,” Jacek Karnowski said.

Countering disinformation, hostile propaganda and attempts to drive a wedge between Ukrainians and Poles was the subject of another panel at the meeting.

“Old stories that once divided us and continue to affect our cooperation today should be left to historians and taken off the agenda. Partners must act on a transparent ideological basis,” stressed Michał Broniatowski, Director and Editor-in-Chief of TVP World.

Participants in the Ukrainian-Polish meeting declared their intention to cooperate in strategic areas, agreed to continue the dialogue and implement joint initiatives, and to involve other Central and Eastern European countries in the partnership.

Each year, the Via Carpatia Forum concludes with the presentation of the Stanisław Vincenz Prize. This year’s laureate of the prize, named after the Polish philosopher and chronicler of the Hutsul region Stanisław Vincenz, for Humanistic Service and a Contribution to Regional Development, was director, actor, People’s Artist of Ukraine, and General Director and Artistic Director of the Ivano-Frankivsk Drama Theatre Rostyslav Derzhypilskyi.

The Ukrainian-Polish Meeting conference was initiated by the Co-Chairs of the Group for Interparliamentary Relations with the Republic of Poland, Mykola Kniazhytskyi (European Solidarity) and Artem Kovalov (Servant of the People), together with Marcin Bosacki, Chair of the Polish-Ukrainian Parliamentary Group in the Polish Sejm.

The Via Carpatia 2024 Forum was organised by the All-Ukrainian Democratic Forum NGO, with support from the International Renaissance Foundation, the Ukrainian Book Institute, TVP World and Espreso.