Rumen Radev received remains identified as Tsar Samuel in Thessaloniki

On October 3, 2026, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev travelled to the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki to receive human remains that Bulgarian officials identify as belonging to the medieval ruler Tsar Samuel.

The handover took place in the presence of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. In the ceremony both countries' ministers of culture signed a protocol formalizing the transfer.

Questions over scientific confirmation

Bulgaria did not prepare a public catalogue or a scientific study of the objects accompanying the remains before the transfer, and no DNA test has been carried out to verify the identity of the bones. "What we know is that Tsar Samuil and his family are buried on the island of Saint Achill," said Prof. Milko Palangurski of Trnovski University during the television programme "Zdravo, Bulgaria" on Nova TV.

The transfer prompted reactions in neighbouring countries. North Macedonia's Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski urged that the issue be viewed through the prism of the Bled Agreement. He said: "I comment on this in the direction of the Bled Agreement which was reached immediately after the capitulation of fascist Bulgaria, which, I would say, occupied during the Second World War the territory of today's Macedonia."

Officials on both sides described the procedure as a formal cultural and diplomatic exchange. Experts and historians say that resolving questions about the provenance of the remains will ultimately require coordinated scientific work, including catalogue documentation and DNA analysis, which so far have not been publicly reported.

Photo: press material from the event