Bulgaria receives purported remains of medieval ruler under Greece accord
The return to Sofia is part of an agreement that also provides for Greece to receive 48 objects taken from its churches and monasteries during World War I.
The purported remains of medieval ruler Czar Samuel were flown from Greece to Sofia on Saturday, where crowds and Bulgarian officials gathered for a public ceremony. A procession later took them to the Church of Saint Sofia.
The handover follows years of negotiations between Greece and Bulgaria, which reached an accord this week. The remains were found in a Greek border area in the 1960s, but the supplied account does not establish their identification as Samuel’s.
The ceremony included a 21-gun salute and a flypast by fighter jets. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev called for Europe to avoid reopening old wounds and work for peace.
The wider agreement provides for Greece to receive 48 objects Bulgarian troops took from Greek churches and monasteries during World War I. The transfer is planned; the source does not say it has taken place.
Samuel died in 1014 after fighting the Byzantine Empire. His historical legacy is also claimed in North Macedonia, and a 2022 bilateral commission recommended describing his state as the Bulgarian Empire, a characterisation it said most contemporary historians supported.
