Radev and Mitsotakis hail a historic agreement as the medieval Bulgarian ruler’s remains return home and 48 religious artefacts are handed over to Greece.
Bulgaria received the remains of Tsar Samuel at a ceremony attended by Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev and his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki.
The two countries’ culture ministers signed a handover protocol in the presence of the prime ministers. In return, Bulgaria is handing over 48 objects to Greece, mainly church treasures from several monasteries in Aegean Macedonia. Bulgarian scholars safeguarded the objects during the First World War, when these territories, home to Bulgarian communities, were under the rule of Tsar Ferdinand I.
Mitsotakis stressed the significance of the return of the religious objects, including a bishop’s throne, and said historical and religious relics must not be targeted during war.
“Today we are establishing a very deep connection with Bulgaria that goes beyond culture. The return of important church treasures creates new bridges for communication,” Mitsotakis said, thanking Radev.
The Greek prime minister said the 48 objects, acquired by the Bulgarian side in 1917 from the metropolitan dioceses of Serres and Nigrita, held immense spiritual and emotional significance for Greece.
“In return, Athens is fulfilling its historical duty by returning the remains of Tsar Samuel, discovered in the Basilica of Saint Achilles. They have been preserved for decades by the Greek government,” Mitsotakis said.
He recalled that negotiations over the return of Samuel’s remains began in the 1970s under Konstantinos Karamanlis and Todor Zhivkov.
“It took time to overcome the challenges of the past. Our cooperation is only beginning. This is the first stage towards the return of other relics from Bulgaria,” he added.
Radev said it was a great honour to be at the museum in Thessaloniki.
“The Bulgarian state’s efforts to recover the remains date back to the 1960s, when they were discovered in the Church of Saint Achilles. I am pleased that today we are fulfilling the wish of their discoverer, Professor Moutsopoulos, that they should return. I would like to thank Mr Mitsotakis for achieving this historic agreement for our two countries and for his political leadership,” the Bulgarian prime minister said.
He noted that six decades of sustained efforts had made the handover possible.
“If Tsar Samuel divided us in the past, today he unites us. Our shared membership of the EU enables our two countries to better understand each other’s feelings. After thousands of years of confrontation and a shared, turbulent Balkan past marked by wars, today we mark the next stage in developing and deepening our relations. It is remarkable that, after more than 1,000 years of clashes, we now enjoy such strong neighbourly relations. The past few decades have been particularly important: we have managed to leave the shadows of the past behind and build trust and friendship. I am glad that our two peoples have put this rivalry behind them,” Radev said.
He added that having a true friend mattered above all.
“What we have achieved today will strengthen our friendship further. Together with Greece, we have built an axis of stability and prosperity, and cultural relations are an important part of that axis,” he said.
Following the handover, Tsar Samuel’s remains will be flown to Sofia aboard a Spartan military transport aircraft. A formal ceremony is expected at Prince Alexander I of Battenberg Square, followed by a procession to Saint Sophia Church, where the remains will be laid to rest.
This is the second return of a Bulgarian ruler’s remains to the country in the past two years. In 2024, the remains of Tsar Ferdinand I, who ruled from 1887 to 1918, were brought back from Coburg and laid to rest at Vrana Palace.
Another Bulgarian monarch is also buried in Sofia. The mausoleum of Prince Alexander I of Battenberg stands in the city centre. Bulgaria’s Unification took place during his reign and was defended in the victorious Serbo-Bulgarian War.
Professor Nikolaos Moutsopoulos discovered the remains attributed to Tsar Samuel in the Basilica of Saint Achilles in 1969. He uncovered four sarcophagi, only one of which contained an intact skeleton. Anthropological examinations identified an elderly man aged about 70, with distinctive evidence of injuries to his left arm. Remnants of richly decorated fabric and fine chain mail were also found in the grave.
The identification of the remains as those of Tsar Samuel rests on a combination of archaeological context, anthropological findings and historical evidence. | BGNES