Craiova Group

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 on 1 January 2007, while Serbia has been in accession negotiations since January 2014. Since October 2017 at the meeting in Varna, Bulgaria, with the inclusion of Greece, meetings have been quadrilateral.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Craiova Group
Quadrilateral
Membership
Establishment24 April 2015
Area
• Total
558,822 km2 (215,762 sq mi)
Population
• 2023 estimate
Decrease 42,646,208[1]
• Density
78.9/km2 (204.4/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $1.591 trillion[2]
• Per capita
Increase $34,637[2]
GDP (nominal)2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $762.798 billion[2]
• Per capita
Increase $16,716[2]

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]

Country comparison
NameRomaniaBulgariaGreeceSerbia
Official nameRomania (România)Republic of Bulgaria (Република България)Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία)Republic of Serbia (Република Србија / Republika Srbija)
Coat of Arms
Flag Romania Bulgaria Greece Serbia
Population Decrease 19,051,562 (2023)[15] Decrease 6,447,710 (2022)[15] Decrease 10,482,487 (2022)[15] Decrease 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) 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 Marcel Ciolacu (PSD) Prime Minister Galab Donev (Independent (caretaker) Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (New Democracy) Prime Minister Ana Brnabić (SNS)
Current Head of State President Klaus Iohannis (Independent but affiliated with PNL) President Rumen Radev (Independent) President Katerina Sakellaropoulou (Independent) 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, 3.9% Roman Catholic, 3.1% Islam, 1.11% irreligious, 0.99% Protestant, 3.54% Other religious
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 - 87.5% Serbs, 2.8% Hungarians, 2.1% Roma, 2.3% Bosniaks, 9% 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 Lev (лв) – BGN Euro (€) – EUR Serbian dinar (din) – RSD
Human Development Index

See also

References
  1. "Population on 1 January". ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  2. "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2019". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  3. "Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia Establish Craiova Group for Cooperation". Novinite. 24 April 2015.
  4. "Vucic meets with Romanian and Bulgarian counterparts". B92. 24 April 2015.
  5. "Prime Minister Mihai Tudose participated in the Romania - Bulgaria - Serbia - Greece quadrilateral meeting". gov.ro. 9 December 2017.
  6. "What does the future hold for Southern Europe?".
  7. "Craiova Group, a quadriatral cooperation formula more important than the Visegrad Group - 24 April 2018 - the Romanian Business Journal". Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  8. "Joint military exercise of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia in Attica". 31 May 2018.
  9. "Leaders of Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Serbia meet in Bucharest on April 24". 24 April 2018.
  10. "PM Tsipras in Bucharest for Greece-Bulgaria-Romania-Serbia meeting - ERT International". Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  11. "Leaders of Romania, Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria meet for economic cooperation - Xinhua | English.news.cn". Archived from the original on 5 May 2018.
  12. Bochev, Venelin (6 December 2018). "Craiova Group – too late or better late than never?". European Policy Centre.
  13. "България, Румъния и Сърбия свързват телекомуникационните си мрежи" (in Bulgarian). Investor. 17 June 2015.
  14. "Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Greece eye joint bid for hosting 2030 FIFA World Cup". seenews.com. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  15. "Population on 1 January". ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  16. "ПОЧЕТНА | Републички завод за статистику Србије". www.stat.gov.rs. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  17. "Human Development Index (HDI)". hdr.undp.org. HDRO (Human Development Report Office) United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  18. "Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI)". hdr.undp.org. HDRO (Human Development Report Office) United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
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