The South-East Europe to Western Europe Quantum Communication Infrastructure (SEEWQCI) project officially launched on February 26-27, 2026, at the Hellenic Ministry of Digital Governance in Athens. According to the HellasQCI project announcement, SEEWQCI interconnects the national quantum communication infrastructures of Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands.
A central component of the project is a 1,100 km cross-border terrestrial QKD backbone between Greece and Bulgaria. Five optical ground stations will enable satellite-based quantum links, and the project will test more than 29 quantum-secure use cases across over 35 trusted nodes. Bulgarian participants include the Institute of Robotics at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Enterprise Communications Group, and Correct Consulting Group. Nine of the 29 planned large-scale demonstrations involve Bulgaria.
Coordinated by Greece’s National Infrastructures for Research and Technology (GRNET), SEEWQCI has a total budget of EUR 17.8 million, with 50% co-financing from the Connecting Europe Facility. The project represents the second implementation phase of the EuroQCI initiative, shifting focus from national network deployment to cross-border interconnection and interoperability.