Greece hands Bulgaria the remains of Tsar Samuel: “historic agreement” after six decades of efforts

Greece will hand Bulgaria the remains identified as those of the medieval ruler Tsar Samuel, under an agreement signed on Tuesday, as Reuters reports. The agreement also provides for the transfer of a number of other historical and religious artefacts between the two Balkan neighbours.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev described the document as a “historic agreement”, saying the handover of Samuel’s remains ends six decades of Sofia’s efforts to bring them home, following their discovery in Greece in 1965.

Samuel, who reigned from 997 to 1014 during the First Bulgarian Empire, is considered a national hero by Bulgarians for his fight to preserve the country’s independence from the Byzantine Empire. According to Reuters, his remains were discovered by Greek archaeologist Nikolaos Moutsopoulos during excavations at the Basilica of St Achillius, on the island of Lake Prespa in northern Greece, and in recent years were kept at the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the culture ministers of Greece and Bulgaria, and under it Athens will receive almost 50 religious relics that were taken to Bulgaria during the First World War.

The official handover ceremony is expected to be held on October 3 at the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki, where Bulgarian Prime Minister Radev and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis are expected to take part.

For North Macedonia, the figure of Tsar Samuel remains one of the most sensitive historical topics: Ohrid, where his fortress stands, was the capital of the state he ruled, and Macedonians consider Samuel part of their national heritage — a claim Bulgaria has historically disputed, as Nova Makedonija also reported today.