Mitsotakis Declares Greece Won’t Borrow Its Own Parthenon Marbles Amid Bulgaria Relic Exchange

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Saturday emphasized Greece’s unwavering stance on the return of the Parthenon Sculptures, speaking in Thessaloniki during the ceremonial exchange of historical relics between Greece and Bulgaria.

“Monuments and historic artifacts cannot be treated as spoils of war, nor as victims of circumstances that arose after their creation and their inherent nature as unified works,” Mitsotakis stated at the Museum of Byzantine Culture.

“It is precisely this same principle, the principle of a monument’s integrity, that underpins our ongoing effort to reunite the Parthenon Sculptures. Because they are not lifeless objects from the past. They are evidence in a living and unbroken connection with the natural and cultural landscape that gave birth to them,” the prime minister continued.

“The Parthenon is a unique and self-contained case. That is why it cannot be confined within the limits of legal or technical issues. It is about restoring the aesthetic and semantic integrity of a truly universal monument which, unfortunately, remains violently dismembered.”

“My country will not accept arrangements that imply recognition of foreign ownership, nor will it borrow, supposedly, its own treasures. On the contrary, it now believes that the time has come for truth, for reason, for justice, but also for morality,” Mitsotakis concluded.

Radev Hails Strengthened Bilateral Relations

“Our joint efforts have allowed us to leave the shadows of the past behind us and to create a relationship of mutual respect and friendship,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev stressed during the event.

“I am pleased that our two peoples have managed to move beyond confrontation and today we enjoy a very high level of economic, political and cultural cooperation,” he added.

“I am full of hope that what we have achieved today will further consolidate our strategic partnership, because over the past decades we have managed to create a very strong axis of strategic cooperation between Bulgaria and Greece, an axis of stability, security, prosperity and development.”

Tsar Samuel’s Remains Return to Bulgaria

More than a thousand years after his death, the remains identified as those of Tsar Samuel, one of the most important rulers of the First Bulgarian Empire, are returning to Bulgaria. Their return is part of a landmark agreement on the mutual handover of historic artifacts and anthropological material signed by Greece and Bulgaria, which the Bulgarian side has described as being of historic significance.

In exchange, Greece is receiving 48 ecclesiastical artifacts that were removed by Bulgarian troops from churches and monasteries in northern Greece during the First World War. The objects were taken in 1917 and remained in Bulgaria for over a century, where they were kept or displayed at the National History Museum in Sofia.

Samuel ruled from 997 to 1014 and played a leading role in military clashes with the Byzantine Empire. Initially ruling alongside his brothers, he later ordered the execution of one sibling before gradually extending his authority across much of the Balkans. The region around the Prespa and Ohrid lakes, mainly in what is now North Macedonia, became the center of his power.

From the early 11th century, the tide turned in favor of the Byzantines. After 1001, Emperor Basil II intensified pressure, and in 1014 Samuel’s army suffered a devastating defeat. Historical sources record that the Byzantine emperor, known as “Boulgaroktonos,” ordered thousands of Bulgarian prisoners to be blinded. Tradition holds that Samuel died shortly after witnessing his blinded soldiers return.

The Bulgarian state fell under Byzantine rule four years later, in 1018.

The remains attributed to Samuel are linked to excavations at the Basilica of Saint Achilleios in Prespa. In 1965, Professor Nikolaos Moutsopoulos uncovered four sarcophagi along with anthropological material. These finds had been housed at the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki and now form part of the exchange agreement with Bulgaria.

Greece Receives Ecclesiastical Artifacts

The 48 artifacts arriving in Greece originate from the Holy Monastery of Panagia Eikosifoinissa, the Holy Monastery of Timios Prodromos of Serres, and the Holy Metropolis of Serres and Nigrita. Before their final return to their original locations, they will be exhibited at the Museum of Byzantine Culture until November 5, 2026.

The mutual handover took place on Saturday morning in Thessaloniki, in the presence of both prime ministers, with the signing of the relevant delivery and receipt protocols.

This exchange implements a memorandum of understanding signed by the culture ministers of Greece and Bulgaria, Lina Mendoni and Eftim Miloshev, following many years of negotiations and regular diplomatic contacts between the two nations.

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