Greece to return remains of
Photo: Abdul Saboor/Pool via /AP/TT

Greece to return remains of Bulgarian ruler Tsar Samuel to Sofia

Greece is to return the remains of one of Bulgaria's last rulers, Tsar Samuel, before the country was conquered by the Byzantine Empire. Sofia has long wanted to bring Samuel, who ruled between 997 and 1014, home.

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The remains were discovered during excavations in 1965 in a basilica on an island in the border region between Greece and Albania. Bulgaria has long sought to repatriate the buried former tsar. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Rumen Radev confirmed that the handover will take place in Thessaloniki, Greece.

The memory of Tsar Samuel takes on a unifying meaning instead of a divisive one, Radev said, thanking his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis "for political courage."

Tsar Samuel is said to have died of shock when 15,000 soldiers in his army returned blind after losing a battle to the Byzantine Emperor Basil II - who ordered the losers to be blinded.

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AuthorTT News AgencyEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for our readers
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