NEWS

The Head of State Paid Tribute to the Mortal remains of the Bulgarian Tsar Samuil

President Rosen Plevneliev honored the mortal remains of Tsar Samuil, which are preserved in the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessalonica and laid a wreath before one of the most remarkable medieval rulers of Bulgaria. For the first time, upon the request of the Bulgarian state, the mortal remains were laid in state on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the death of Tsar Samuil. The Head of State looked at the exposition of the museum, where the Bulgarian tsar’s shroud made of gold-woven material is exhibited.

“Excitement, admiration and great respect” – these are the words President Plevneliev used to describe his feelings after he honored the mortal remains of the Bulgarian ruler. “Today we pay tribute to Tsar Samuil, we mark 1000 years since his tragic and majestic death – a real statesman, who ruled for fifty years and who has left a permanent mark in the consciousness of the Bulgarians. I was extremely excited to pay tribute to one of the personalities who are part of Bulgaria’s history and who have created Bulgaria’s history,” the Head of State told journalists. The President pointed out that the current event in Thessalonica is the result of the efforts of a lot of Bulgarian politicians to strengthen the good relationships between Bulgaria and Greece. During his visit to the museum the Head of State was accompanied by Konstantinos Tasoulas, minister of culture and sports of Greece and by Georgios Orfanos, minister of Macedonia and Thrace.

“The fact that we are EU member states together with Greece further helps us to interpret history by adopting a European approach. Today we are simply manifesting a European approach to the past – we are studying history the way it is, the historical artifacts are preserved and we are displaying a worthy attitude to them no matter where they are located in,” President Plevneliev said.

The Head of State emphasized that even today we can draw our lessons from the attitude of a statesman shown by Tsar Samuil, who devoted his life and rule to his people and to Bulgaria’s interests. “We have to see the same thing in Bulgaria today. The individual political parties, no matter how different and distanced they are, should reach a consensus and should serve the interests of the Bulgarian people at this difficult moment and should work to ensure more stability, to implement reforms and to secure the progress of Bulgaria,” Rosen Plevneliev was adamant. The President further pointed out that we can learn a lot from our past – not only from the progress we have made and the victories we have won, but also from the downfalls and the defeats we have suffered. “All of them enrich us and make us what we are and it is high time we realized that a people who has such a rich history has its mission in the future. We should determine our mission alone,” the Head of State said.

Rosen Plevneliev thanked the Greek state for the fact that we can show our respect to history and to the past. “We are organizing a lot of joint events, we are paying tribute to history together and we show deep respect for the past,” the Bulgarian Head of State further pointed out.

“We agreed with President Plevneliev that we share a common approach and the same mode of thinking about how we should preserve the historical legacy. The President assured us that you display the same attitude of respect to and care for the historical relics and values of our history which are on Bulgaria’s territory,” Konstantinos Tasoulas, minister of culture and sports of Greece said.

In reply to a question concerning the opportunity for exchanging cultural and historical artifacts between Bulgaria and Greece, Minister Tasoulas said that “we will adopt an approach as members of the EU family to all these issues and of course within the excellent bilateral relations. The issue of exchanging national historical and cultural values is of mutual interest. For each country history and culture are a source of strength for the present and the future.”

The delegation led by President Rosen Plevneliev in Thessalonica includes Culture Minister Martin Ivanov, former prime minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and the President of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Stefan Vodenicharov.