In 1976 Greece initiated an inter-Balkan conference on cooperation that was attended by representatives of Greece, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Albania initially refused to take part because of its conflicts with Turkey. Observers noted that Greece and Romania seemed to be the most enthusiastic about inter-Balkan regionalism, perhaps heralding some form of bilateral political cooperation. Turkey and Bulgaria were more hesitant. Turkey's position was that the settlement of bilateral differences had to precede regional cooperation. Similar conferences on economic and technical cooperation followed in 1979 and 1982; the latter meeting led to a 1984 conference on denuclearizing the Balkans.

Friendly and productive relations between Greece and neighbors Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Romania continued to be the rule throughout the 1980s and beyond the end of the Cold War. In 1991 brisk trade with Bulgaria was coupled with expanded military cooperation agreements. A series of consultations between the prime ministers of Bulgaria and Greece finally yielded a twenty-year treaty on friendship, good neighborliness, cooperation, and security. In the same year, similar diplomatic exchanges with Romanian leaders resulted in broad agreements on commercial ties and investments, as well as a mutual defense treaty in the same year.

The breakup of Yugoslavia deprived Greece of an important market and a friendly neighbor, as well as easy land access to other European states--in 1990, nearly 40 percent of Greek exports traveled by land across Yugoslavia into Western Europe. Far more important, however, the Yugoslav crisis has reopened old wounds that had been festering from the onset of communist rule in that country until its demise in 1989-90.

Data as of December 1994

NOTE: The information regarding Greece on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Greece Bulgaria, Romania, and Yugoslavia information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Greece Bulgaria, Romania, and Yugoslavia should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA.