The memorandum providing for the return to Bulgaria of the remains of Tsar Samuel is of enormous significance, Minister of Education and Science Georgi Valchev said in an interview with Bulgarian National Television on Tuesday.
Valchev said the document demonstrated the level of trust between two countries that are partners in the European Union and members of NATO. He said that the Balkans’ difficult history had left numerous unresolved issues over the years and said the region had a tendency to remain overly focused on its historical legacy. Against this backdrop, he said the memorandum demonstrated that such inherited problems from the past could be overcome in a spirit of good neighbourly relations.
The Minister explained that talks on returning Tsar Samuel’s remains to his homeland had been underway for decades, but said their success now was not accidental.
He argued that many politicians were already seeking to claim credit for the development.
Valchev clarified that Bulgaria would receive not only the remains of Tsar Samuel, but also those of Gabriel Radomir, Ivan Vladislav and other members of the royal family. He stressed that the document was not an agreement but a memorandum on the mutual deposit of cultural assets.
According to Valchev, both the Bulgarian and Greek states were demonstrating goodwill without relinquishing ownership of the respective cultural assets. He said that, where there was trust, such assets could be deposited on a reciprocal basis.
He explained that Bulgaria would provide Greece with 48 items of cultural and historical value, mainly church vessels, reliquaries and Gospel covers, originating from two monasteries in northern Greece, and said these items constituted the subject of the memorandum.
The items Bulgaria will hand over to Greece will be displayed at the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki until early November. They will then be returned to the respective monasteries from which they were originally acquired.
Memorandum Returning Tsar Samuel’s Remains to Bulgaria Is of Great Significance, Education Minister Says THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-09-29 19:44:17
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