Craiova Group
Cooperation project between Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Craiova Group (Quadrilateral), Craiova Four, or C4 is a cooperation project of four European states – Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia – for the purposes of furthering their European integration as well as economic, transport and energy cooperation with one another. The Group originated in a summit meeting of the heads of governments of Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia, held on 24 April 2015 in the Romanian city of Craiova.[3][4] At the group's inaugural meeting, Romania's then-Prime Minister Victor Ponta indicated that he was inspired by the Visegrád Group.[3] Romania and Bulgaria both joined the European Union in 2007, while Serbia has been in accession negotiations since 2014. Since 2017 meeting in Varna, Bulgaria and the inclusion of Greece, meetings have been quadrilateral.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]
One of the first initiatives, after a meeting in Vidin, Bulgaria, was to strengthen the telecommunication networks in the border areas of the countries.[13] Other goals include helping Serbia join the European Union and the construction of a motorway linking Bucharest, Sofia and Belgrade.[3]
On 2 November 2018, Prime Minister of Bulgaria Boyko Borisov stated that Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras proposed joint bid for the 2030 FIFA World Cup by Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Greece during the meeting in Thessaloniki.[14]
Current leaders
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Country comparison
| Name | Romania | Bulgaria | Greece | Serbia | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Official name | Romania (România) | Republic of Bulgaria (Република България / Republika Bŭlgariya) | Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία) | Republic of Serbia (Република Србија / Republika Srbija) | ||||
| Coat of Arms |  |
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| Flag |  |
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| Population |  19,051,562 (2023)[15] |
6,447,710 (2022)[15] |
10,482,487 (2022)[15] |
6,664,449 (2023)[16] | ||||
| Area | 238,397 km2 (92,046 sq mi) | 110,993.6 km2 (42,854.9 sq mi) | 131,957 km2 (50,949 sq mi) | 77,747 km2(29,913 sq mi)(excluding Kosovo) | ||||
| Population Density | 84.4/km2 (218.6/sq mi) | 58/km2 (165.8/sq mi) | 79,4/km2 (212.4/sq mi) | 86/km2 (230.5/sq mi) | ||||
| Government | Unitary semi-presidential constitutional republic | Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic | Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic | Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic | ||||
| Capital | Bucharest – 1,716,961 (2,304,408
metro) |
Sofia – 1,248,452 (1,667,314 metro) | Athens – 643,452 (3,638,281 metro) | Belgrade – 1,383,875 (1,681,405 metro) | ||||
| Largest City | ||||||||
| Official language | Romanian | Bulgarian | Greek | Serbian | ||||
| First Leader | Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Domnitor of the United Principalities (first ruler of the modern unified state). Burebista, King of Dacia (first leader of the Romanian peoples). | Khan Asparuh of Bulgaria (founder of the First Bulgarian Empire) | Governor Ioannis Kapodistrias (first head of state of the modern independent state) | Prince Višeslav of Serbia (first ruler known by name) | ||||
| Current Head of Government | Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan (PNL) | Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov (Independent) | Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (New Democracy) | Prime Minister Đuro Macut (Independent) | ||||
| Current Head of State | President Nicușor Dan (Independent) | President Iliana Iotova (BSP) | President Konstantinos Tasoulas (New Democracy) | President Aleksandar Vučić (SNS) | ||||
| Main religions | 81% Eastern Orthodox, 6.2% Protestant, 5.1% Latin and Greek Catholic, 0.2% irreligious, 1.5% Other religious | 59.5% Eastern Orthodox, 9.3% irreligious, 7.9% Islam, 0.9% Protestant, 0.7% Roman Catholic | 90% Eastern Orthodox, 3% Other Christians (excluding Catholic), 4% irreligious, 2% Islam, 3% Other religious (including Eastern or Western Catholic) | 81.1% Eastern Orthodox, 4.2% Islam, 3.9% Roman Catholic, 1.1% irreligious, 1% Protestant | ||||
| Ethnic groups | 88.9% Romanians, 6.1% Hungarians, 3.3% Roma, 0.2% Ukrainians, 0.2% Germans | 84.8% Bulgarians, 8.8% Turks, 4.9% Roma, 0.7% others | Greek 91.6%, Albanian 4.4%, other 4% [17] | 80.6% Serbs, 2.8% Hungarians, 2.3% Bosniaks, 2% Roma, 12.3% others | ||||
| GDP (nominal) | ||||||||
| GDP (PPP) | ||||||||
| External debt | 36.8 % of GDP | 20.4 % of GDP | 178.2 % of GDP | 48.2 % of GDP | ||||
| Currency | Leu (L) – RON | Euro (€) – EUR | Euro (€) – EUR | Dinar (din) – RSD | ||||
| Human Development Index |
See also
- Accession of Serbia to the European Union
- Bulgaria–Greece–Romania–Serbia UEFA Euro 2028 and 2030 FIFA World Cup bid
- Frugal Four
- Inner Six
- Nordic Defence Cooperation
