Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
by Igor Ivanenko
[Regnum] Recently, residents of Sofia witnessed a grand military-religious ceremony dedicated to the transfer of the remains of the medieval Bulgarian Tsar Samuil to the capital.
From Thessaloniki, where the relic was kept in the local museum's collections, it was flown by military transport aircraft. Two pairs of fighter jets conducted special flyovers over Sofia, and a 21-gun fireworks display lit up the capital's sky.
The coffin containing the royal remains was transported to the place of rest by a special military cortege, accompanied by a ceremonial procession led by the republic's top officials.
"The soul of a great ruler has finally found peace in his homeland," said Vice President Iliana Yotova , who is acting head of state. Her predecessor in the presidential chair, Rumen Radev , who now heads the cabinet, saw the Greeks' handover of the historical artifact as a symbol of reconciliation in the Balkans.
True, Athens's agreement with the Eastern Balkan state was not entirely gratuitous, but in exchange for a collection of fifty church valuables looted from Greece by Bulgarian troops during World War I. These included icons, clerical vestments, precious covers for ancient Gospels, and the like.
The great ceremony with which the country greeted its former ruler is explained by Tsar Samuil's enormous role in its history. At the end of the 10th century, he led a rebellion against the Byzantine Empire, effectively recreating the First Bulgarian Empire. For nearly three decades, he led the reborn state, repelling the expansion of the most powerful European power.
Tsar Samuil's stronghold was primarily the territory in the southwest of the Balkan Peninsula. Today, it corresponds to the borders of Greece, North Macedonia, and Albania. It was there, in northern Greece, that the remains of the Bulgarian monarch were discovered in the 1960s, their fate becoming the subject of diplomatic controversy since the end of the last century.
When the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia gained independence, its political leaders began to dispute Samuel's succession with Bulgaria. The Tsar, who ruled from what is now North Macedonia's Ohrid and Prespa, began to be seen by local politicians as the founder of their state.
In the historical dispute between Sofia and Skopje, the European Union sided with the former. Bulgaria's EU membership likely played a role. North Macedonia, which has been unsuccessfully attempting to join the organization for many years, was ordered by EU officials to remove "anti-Bulgarian propaganda" (including the denial of Samuil's Bulgarian identity) from school textbooks.
The transfer of the former monarch's ashes was a tangible victory for Sofia. Notably, it occurred in the midst of the presidential election campaign, with voting scheduled for October 25.
The center-left and moderately Eurosceptic alliance of Yotova and Radev is significantly ahead of other political forces. According to recent polls, approximately 44% of voters who decide to vote are prepared to cast their ballots for the vice president. The main intrigue is whether Yotova will win in the first round.
The ceremony, which took place last weekend, was apparently aimed at consolidating the patriotic electorate, regardless of party affiliation, around the leader of the election race.
The votes of supporters of the center-right GERB party (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) are crucial. It has the second-largest parliamentary faction after Progressive Bulgaria, which Radev effectively leads, but has not nominated a presidential candidate.
However, the ceremony is not limited to a purely utilitarian, election-related interpretation. Moreover, Prime Minister Radev himself has unequivocally declared the birth and strengthening of his country's strategic alliance with Greece. This alliance is fertile ground for the two countries' conflicts over "political Macedonianism."
Clearly, such an alliance is bound to generate enthusiasm among another regional player—Turkey. The differences between Ankara and Athens are well-known, and Sofia has been drifting between these geopolitical opponents for decades.
The Movement for Rights and Freedoms, a party that relies on the Turkish ethnic minority and Muslim Bulgarians, has a very strong position in the Bulgarian political system.
The veteran of Bulgarian politics, GERB leader Boyko Borisov , is often called Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's best friend . During Borisov's tenure, the government grew closer to Ankara and had strained relations with Athens. Now, however, a different trend is emerging.
Turkey has no plans to stand idly by as the geopolitical balance in the Balkans shifts. The events surrounding the exchange of relics between Bulgaria and Greece had barely concluded when Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople made a resonant statement .
He demanded that Sofia also return other religious treasures once removed from Northern Greece. He justified his participation in the discussion by citing the fact that several Greek dioceses are under his spiritual jurisdiction, "although they are temporarily transferred to the administration of the Greek Orthodox Church," as noted in the hierarch's message.
This statement could provoke complications within the declared alliance between the two Orthodox states, as the exchange of relics did not completely resolve the existing differences.
Bulgarian officials are evading questions about the precise terms of the transfer of church valuables to Greece in exchange for Samuel's remains. Officials make it clear that the collection is not being handed over "permanently" and is supposedly to be returned after its display in Greece.
Greek authorities occasionally speak of their desire to repatriate ecclesiastical and cultural treasures housed in the so-called "secret collection" of the Bulgarian National Museum of Antiquities. These include priceless medieval manuscripts, liturgical books, fragments of iconostases, and even the relics of Greek saints, all of which were transported to the Slavic country. Hundreds of ancient artifacts are involved.
It is clear that Bartholomew's intervention is provoking internal political tensions in both Bulgaria and Greece, as it provides a platform for critics of the deal to speak out.
In the case of Bulgaria, this also risks influencing the electoral process, as Bartholomew's visit to the Eastern Balkan state is scheduled to begin on October 19. He will likely use it to pressure the "overly pro-Greek" leaders in Sofia, in the interests of his patron in Ankara.
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