Congress Secretary General Mathieu MORI visited Ukraine on 18-19 September 2026 to participate in the Economic Forum which took place as part of the Carpathian Summit in Bukovel (Ivano-Frankivsk region, Ukraine).
In his address, the Congress Secretary General underlined “the Carpathian integration initiative can demonstrate that multilevel governance is not only and instrument of cohesion and prosperity but also an instrument of resilience and democratic security on the continent”. He also reminded that in 1993, the Carpathian Euroregion, created on the basis of the Council of Europe’s Outline Convention on Transfrontier Co-operation, was established between representatives of regions of five countries in this macro-region. Ukraine is now initiating its extension to eight countries: Austria, Czechia, Hungary, the Republic of Poland, Romania, the Republic of Serbia, the Slovak Republic and Ukraine.
The Congress will work at promoting this initiative among local and regional authorities of the eight member states involved.
The Economic Forum brought together representatives of public authorities from these counties, youth representatives, businesses, international financial institutions and civil society. They discussed how to enhance the Carpathian Initiative as a platform where EU member states, candidate countries and their local and regional authorities can meet, share experiences and work together on practical solutions.
The Congress Secretary General held bilateral meetings with Ukrainian high-ranking officials to discuss Congress intervention to foster democratic security and multilevel governance, namely with First Vice-Speaker of the Parliament Oleksandr Kornienko, Minister for Communities, Territories and Internally Displaced Persons Vitaliy Bezgin, Minister of Economy and Environment Oleksandr Kravchenko and Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Viktor Mykyta.
During his visit, on behalf of the Council of Europe, Mathieu Mori signed the Council of Europe Convention on the Co-production of Audiovisual Works in the form of Series (CETS No. 230) together with Tetyana Berezhna, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture.
