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 |
 Romania Serbia Greece |
| Establishment | 24 April 2015 |
| Area | |
• Total
| 558,822 km2 (215,762 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2023 estimate
|  42,646,208[1] |
• Density
| 78.9/km2 (204.4/sq mi) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2023 estimate |
• Total
|  $1.591 trillion[2] |
• Per capita
| $34,637[2] |
| GDP (nominal) | 2023 estimate |
• Total
| $762.798 billion[2] |
• Per capita
| $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]
| 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]
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| 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, KingofDacia (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 Marcel Ciolacu (PSD) | Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov (PP-DB) | 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 | Greek 91.6%, Albanian 4.4%, other 4% [17] | 87.5% Serbs, 2.8% Hungarians, 2.1% Roma, 2.3% Bosniaks, 9% others | ||||
| GDP (nominal) |
$18,530 per capita (2023)[2] 54th |
$14,893 per capita (2023)[2] 60th |
$22,595 per capita (2023)[2] 44th |
$10,849 per capita (2023)[2] 77th | ||||
| GDP (PPP) |
$41,634 per capita (2023)[2] 47th |
$32,006 per capita (2023)[2] 59th |
$39,478 per capita (2023)[2] 53rd |
$25,432 per capita (2023)[2] 66th | ||||
| 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 | ||||
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