Bulgarian institutions do not disclose the full list of cultural values transferred to Greece under the agreement to receive the alleged remains of Tsar Samuil. The National Historical Museum refers to a confidentiality clause and the Greek side's disagreement to disclose the information, and the Council of Ministers states that it does not have the requested data.
The information was requested by Factcheck.bg under the Access to Public Information Act. The platform received a refusal from the NHM and announced that it will appeal it to the court. The Council of Ministers, which approved the memorandum, forwarded the application to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
What was agreed between Bulgaria and Greece
The memorandum was signed on September 29 and provides for the mutual transfer for safekeeping of relics of historical value. Bulgaria receives the remains, which are believed to belong to Tsar Samuil, and Greece receives 53 objects, registered under 48 inventory numbers in the National History Museum.
The remains of the medieval ruler were welcomed with a solemn ceremony in Sofia on October 3 and laid to rest in the Basilica of “St. Sophia“. The full list of the transferred objects and the text of the memorandum, however, have not been published.
Different positions on publicity
In its response, the National Museum of Antiquities stated that disclosing the information would harm the interests of Greece. The museum also claims that there is no overriding public interest that would justify providing the documents.
This position contradicts the earlier assurances of the Minister of Culture Evtim Miloshev. In an interview with BNT, he stated: “Everything that is necessary has been shared with the public“. Miloshev pointed out that the memorandum contains the usual rules of confidentiality, but they do not prevent the provision of the necessary information to Bulgarian citizens.
The minister also said that among the transferred objects there are none originating from Ohrid and that Greece has no opportunity to demand the return of Tsar Samuil's remains. According to him, what was agreed is not a commercial transaction, but an exchange of historical values.
What is being disputed by the protection of access to information
Lawyer Alexander Kashamov, executive director of the “Access to Information“ Program, defines the refusal of the National Museum as unfounded. According to him, a confidentiality clause in an interstate agreement in itself does not constitute a legal basis for refusal.
Kashamov also disputes the argument for protecting the interests of the Greek state, since it is not specified which specific interest, protected by law, would be affected by the disclosure. “What artifacts Bulgaria has handed over to Greece is a matter of high public interest“, he states.
Bulgarian scientists also expressed doubts. In a protest letter, they demanded the publication of the full list of valuables, the composition of the commission that approved the transfer, and the grounds for the restrictions on publicity.
The objects have not been deregistered from the National History Museum and continue to be the property of the Bulgarian state. This means that the memorandum regulates the transfer for storage, not the transfer of ownership. The next step is a judicial appeal of the refusal, which may raise the issue of the publicity of the list before the court.
Sources: news.bg, bntnews.bg