Craiova Group

The Craiova Group (Quadrilateral) 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.[1][2] At the group's inaugural meeting, Romania's then-Prime Minister Victor Ponta indicated that he was inspired by the Visegrád Group.[1] 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.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

One of the first initiatives, after a meeting in Vidin, Bulgaria, was to strengthen the telecommunication networks in the border areas of the countries.[10] Other goals include helping Serbia join the European Union and the construction of a motorway linking Bucharest, Sofia and Belgrade.[1]

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.[11] Later, this was expanded with proposed bids for UEFA Euro 2028 and UEFA Euro 2032.

Country comparison

Name Romania Bulgaria Greece Serbia
Official name Romania (România) Republic of Bulgaria (Република България) Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία) Republic of Serbia (Република Србија / Republika Srbija)
Coat of Arms Coat of arms of Romania.svg Coat of arms of Bulgaria.svg Coat of arms of Greece.svg Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
Flag Romania Bulgaria Greece Serbia
Population 19,638,000 7,050,034 10,768,477 7,001,444
Area 238,397 km2 (92,046 sq mi) 110,993.6 km2 (42,854.9 sq mi) 131,957 km2 (50,949 sq mi) 88,361 km2(34,116 sq mi)
Population Density 84.4/km2 (218.6/sq mi) 64/km2 (165.8/sq mi) 82/km2 (212.4/sq mi) 91.1/km2 (235.9/sq mi)
Government Unitary Semi-presidential constitutional republic Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic
Capital Bucharest – 2,106,144 (2,412,530 Metro) Sofia – 1,238,438 (1,681,592 Metro) Athens – 664,046 (3,781,274 Metro) Belgrade – 1,166,763 (1,687,132 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 Viorica Dăncilă (Social Democratic Party) Prime Minister Boyko Borisov (GERB) Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (Syriza) Prime Minister Ana Brnabić (Independent)
Current Head of State President Klaus Iohannis (Independent) President Rumen Radev (Independent) President Prokopis Pavlopoulos (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) 84.59% Eastern Orthodox, 4.97% Roman Catholic, 3.1% Islam, 2.7% Hindu, 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 - 83.3% Serbs, 3.5% Hungarians, 2.1% Roma, 2% Bosniaks, 9% others
GDP (nominal) $265 billion, $13,664 per capita $66.242 billion, $9,504 per capita $224.033 billion, $20,930 per capita $50.139 billion, $7,199 per capita
GDP (PPP) $547 billion, $28,189 per capita $171 billion, 24,577 per capita $326.700 billion, $30,522 per capita $118.929 billion, 17,076 per capita
External debt 36.8 % of GDP 24 % of GDP 182.2 % of GDP 54.1 % of GDP
Currency Leu (L) – RON Lev (лв) – BGN Euro (€) – EUR Serbian dinar (din) – RSD
Human Development Index 0.811 (very high) 0.813 (very high) 0.870 (very high) 0.787 (high)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia Establish Craiova Group for Cooperation". Novinite. 24 April 2015.
  2. ^ "Vucic meets with Romanian and Bulgarian counterparts". B92. 24 April 2015.
  3. ^ "Prime Minister Mihai Tudose participated in the Romania - Bulgaria - Serbia - Greece quadrilateral meeting". gov.ro. 9 December 2017.
  4. ^ https://www.opendemocracy.net/democraciaabierta/rodrigo-vaz/what-does-future-hold-for-southern-europe
  5. ^ http://rbj.ucoz.ro/news/craiova_group_a_quadriatral_cooperation_formula_more_important_than_the_visegrad_group/2018-04-24-277
  6. ^ http://www.balkaneu.com/joint-military-exercise-of-greece-bulgaria-romania-serbia-in-attica/
  7. ^ https://sofiaglobe.com/2018/04/24/leaders-of-bulgaria-greece-romania-serbia-meet-in-bucharest-on-april-24/
  8. ^ http://int.ert.gr/pm-tsipras-in-bucharest-for-greece-bulgaria-romania-serbia-meeting/
  9. ^ http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-04/25/c_137134385_2.htm
  10. ^ "България, Румъния и Сърбия свързват телекомуникационните си мрежи" (in Bulgarian). Investor. 17 June 2015.
  11. ^ "Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Greece eye joint bid for hosting 2030 FIFA World Cup". seenews.com. Retrieved 2 November 2018.