The ceremony for welcoming and laying the remains of Tsar Samuil has sparked a number of critical publications in the media in North Macedonia. Some of them question both the identification of the bones and the definition used in Bulgaria for the "return" of the ruler, while others define the scale of the state ceremony as a political demonstration.
The topic also reached the Prime Minister of North Macedonia Hristijan Mickoski, who was asked whether the transfer of the remains from Greece to Bulgaria could affect Skopje's relations with Sofia and Athens.
Mickoski did not answer the question directly, but drew attention to the historical context and the Bled Agreements. Macedonian media paid special attention to his reaction, with some of them noting precisely the avoidance of a categorical answer about the possible diplomatic consequences.
A critical tone was chosen by "Nezavisen", which published an article about the ceremony under the title "Pathetic from Bulgaria: Macedonian functionaries will have to bow to Samuil when they visit Sofia".
The publication pays detailed attention to the state and military honors during the transfer of the remains - their transportation by a C-27J "Spartan" military transport aircraft, the air escort by Bulgarian fighter jets, the restrictions on movement in Sofia and the presence of senior state representatives.
In another publication "Nezavisen" puts emphasis on the controversies that the ceremony has caused in Bulgaria itself, including the decision to move the remains from their original burial place on the island of St. Achilles in the Small Prespa Lake.
The Macedonian "Focus" also follows a critical line, which also emphasizes the state nature of the ceremony and raises the question of whether, after the remains are laid in the Basilica of "St. Sophia", representatives of North Macedonia will be put in a situation to pay homage at the grave of Samuil during official visits to the Bulgarian capital.
Even more sharp is the comment of "Express", which defines the ceremony as a "propaganda circus". The publication attacks the political use of the event and in particular the formulation of the "return" of Tsar Samuil to Bulgaria.
It is the concept of "return" is becoming one of the main lines of criticism in North Macedonia.
Samuel was buried after his death in 1014 in the basilica of "St. Achilles", built by his will on the island of the same name in the Small Prespa Lake. At that time, the region was part of his state, which is why the transfer of the remains to modern Bulgaria does not represent a "return" in the literal historical and geographical sense, the publication writes.
The second line of criticism is related to the identification of the remains themselves.
Professor of medieval history Alexander Atanasovski from the University of "St. Cyril and Methodius" in Skopje told the Bulgarian National Radio that in his opinion, there is not enough evidence that the bones belong to Samuel. His position was widely disseminated by Macedonian media.
A similar emphasis is also placed by the "Religia" portal, which notes the lack of final genetic confirmation of the identity of the remains.
A more moderate tone is used by "Telma" television. In its coverage of the ceremony for the transfer of the remains in Thessaloniki, the media defines Samuel as a "medieval Bulgarian ruler". In its subsequent publications, however, the television speaks of the "supposed remains" and draws attention to the differences between the more cautious historical formulations and the official presentation of the event in Sofia.
"Racin" also places what happened in the context of relations between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, defining the topic as a potential "new spark" between Sofia and Skopje.
At the same time, some of the media in North Macedonia covered the ceremony mainly in an informative manner. "Skopsko Eho" for example, reported on the large number of citizens who welcomed the coffin in Sofia, the military honors and the subsequent burial of the remains in the Basilica of "St. Sophia".
So the day after the ceremony, critical publications in North Macedonia focused not so much on the traditional dispute over Samuil's statehood, but on three other questions - whether the identification of the remains is sufficiently certain, whether it is historically correct to define their transfer as a "return" and to what extent the large-scale state ceremony in Sofia has any bearing on the current dispute between Bulgaria and North Macedonia.
Source: news.bg