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 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]}

Craiova Group Група Крайова (Bulgarian) Όμιλος Craiova (Greek) Grupul Craiova (Romanian) Крајовска група (Serbian)
Craiova Group members   Other member states of the European Union
Membership	Bulgaria  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]

Current leaders

• 
  Bulgaria
  Rosen Zhelyazkov
  Prime Minister
• 
  Greece
  Kyriakos Mitsotakis
  Prime Minister
• 
  Romania
  Cătălin Predoiu
  Prime Minister

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
Flag
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 Cătălin Predoiu (PNL)		Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov (GERB)		Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (New Democracy)		Prime Minister Đuro Macut (Independent)
Current Head of State		President Nicușor Dan (Independent)		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, 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)		$348,902 billion (2023)[2] 45th $18,530 per capita (2023)[2] 54th		$100,635 billion (2023)[2] 72nd $14,893 per capita (2023)[2] 60th		$239,300 billion (2023)[2] 54th $22,595 per capita (2023)[2] 44th		$73,961 billion (2023)[2] 85th $10,849 per capita (2023)[2] 77th
GDP (PPP)		$783,903 billion (2023)[2] 35th $41,634 per capita (2023)[2] 47th		$216,267 billion (2023)[2] 72nd $32,006 per capita (2023)[2] 59th		$418,113 billion (2023)[2] 55th $39,478 per capita (2023)[2] 53rd		$173,365 billion (2023)[2] 80th $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		Dinar (din) – RSD
Human Development Index		0.816 very high[18] 53rd 0.725 high IHDI[19] 43rd		0.816 very high[18] 52nd 0.714 high IHDI[19] 45th		0.872 very high[18] 32nd 0.766 high IHDI[19] 36th		0.806 very high[18] 63rd 0.710 high IHDI[19] 55th

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

Other groups in Southeastern Europe

• Bucharest Nine
• Central European Defence Cooperation
• Central European Initiative
• Salzburg Forum
• Three Seas Initiative

Similar groups

• Association Trio
• Commonwealth of Independent States
• Visegrád Group
• EU Med Group
• Lublin Triangle
• Nordic Defence Cooperation
• Nordic-Baltic Eight
• Weimar Triangle
• Open Balkan

Other

• Central Europe
• Comecon
• Eastern Bloc
• Group of Nine
• Pact of Free Cities
• Soviet Union
• Warsaw Pact
• Intermarium (region)