ATHENS AND SOFIA EXCHANGE HISTORICAL ARTIFACTS

THESSALONIKI, OCTOBER 3 /SRNA/ - Greece and Bulgaria have exchanged historical and religious artifacts and anthropological remains under an agreement that will see Greece receive 48 sacred objects more than a century after they were removed during the First World War.

The handover ceremony was held today at the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki and was attended by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev.

The agreement was signed by the culture ministers of the two countries, Lina Mendoni of Greece and Evtim Miloshev of Bulgaria.

The artifacts returned to Greece were removed in 1917, during the First World War, and were subsequently stored or displayed at the National Historical Museum in Sofia, Bulgaria.

They came from the Panagia Eikosifonissa Monastery, the Timios Prodromos Monastery in Serres, and the Metropolis of Serres and Nigrita in northern Greece.

"Monuments cannot be treated as spoils of war," Mitsotakis said during the ceremony.

He said the agreement goes beyond cultural exchange, laying the foundations for deeper cooperation between the two countries, and expressed hope that it would lead to the return of additional cultural artifacts.

Mitsotakis said that Greece was also fulfilling its part of the agreement by returning to Bulgaria remains identified as those of Tsar Samuel, who ruled the First Bulgarian Empire from 997 to 1014, along with anthropological material from four sarcophagi excavated at the Basilica of Saint Achilleios on the island of Agios Achilleios in Greece’s Prespa region.

The remains were excavated in 1965 by archaeologist Nikolaos Moutsopoulos and have been kept at the Museum of Byzantine Culture in recent years.

"The Greek state has safeguarded and preserved these artifacts for decades, and they are now being returned to the Bulgarian people so that they may be honoured in your country in the manner you deem most appropriate," Mitsotakis told Radev.

He noted that the agreement brings to an end negotiations that began nearly five decades ago, with the first talks held in the 1970s between then-Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis and Bulgarian Communist leader Todor Zhivkov.

"It took time, but above all, it took political will and determination to overcome the obstacles of the past," Mitsotakis said.

He also mentioned Greece’s long-standing campaign for the return of the Parthenon sculptures from the British Museum, saying that the time had come for justice.

The agreement complements a memorandum of understanding recently signed by the culture ministers of the two countries following years of negotiations led by the Greek Ministry of Culture.

The returned Greek artifacts will be on display at the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki until November 5, after which they will be officially handed over to the monasteries and the diocese from which they were removed more than a century ago.