The transfer of Tsar Samuil's remains from Greece to Bulgaria and the state ceremony in Sofia received wide coverage in the world media. Major international agencies and publications present Samuil as a Bulgarian king and ruler of the Bulgarian Kingdom, but some of them maintain a reservation regarding the categorical identification of the bones found more than half a century ago.
France Press titled its material "Bulgarian Tsar Samuil returns "home" after 1,000 years", placing "home" in quotation marks.
The agency presents Samuil as one of the last great rulers of the First Bulgarian Kingdom and recalls his wars with Byzantium. At the same time, AFP used cautious wording about the remains, indicating that they "may" belong to the medieval ruler.
The Associated Press also defines Samuil as a Bulgarian ruler and a symbol of Bulgarian national identity. The agency describes in detail the state honors upon the arrival of the remains in Sofia - the C-27J "Spartan" military transport plane, the air escort of fighter jets, the artillery salutes and the procession to the "Hagia Sophia" basilica.
The AP material was distributed by a number of major international publications, including American and Greek media.
The agency recalls that the remains were discovered in 1969 by Greek archaeologist Nikolaos Moutsopoulos in the "St. Achilles" basilica on the island of the same name in the Small Prespa Lake and that their transfer to Bulgaria comes after decades of talks between Sofia and Athens.
"Al Jazeera" also put "returning home" in quotation marks. The media defines Samuil as a symbol of Bulgarian national identity and a ruler who waged prolonged wars against the Byzantine Empire.
The publication also pays attention to the historical dispute between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, where Samuil also occupies an important place in the official historical narrative.
"Al Jazeera" recalls the conclusion of the Joint Multidisciplinary Expert Commission on Historical and Educational Issues between Sofia and Skopje, according to which Samuil's state is defined by the majority of modern historical science as the Bulgarian Kingdom.
"Deutsche Welle" also defines Samuil as the ruler of the Bulgarian Kingdom in the Middle Ages and notes his importance for the Bulgarian national identity. However, the German media also points to the dispute with North Macedonia over his historical heritage.
A special reading of the event is offered by the British "Guardian". The newspaper places the transfer of the remains in the broader European dispute over the return of historical and cultural values.
The reason is the position of the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who used the ceremony as an example of how two countries can resolve a dispute related to historical heritage.
Thus, the story of Samuil was also connected to one of the most famous international disputes over cultural heritage - the request of Athens to Great Britain to return the Parthenon marbles located in the British Museum.
The Greek "To Vima" also considers the transfer of the remains as an act of cultural diplomacy between Bulgaria and Greece. The publication uses the more cautious wording "remains associated with Tsar Samuil".
The Irish public media RTÉ also reports on the return of the Bulgarian Tsar "home", specifying at the outset that these are remains believed to belong to Samuil.
Reuters distributed photos from the ceremony in Sofia, defining Samuil as a Bulgarian Tsar, and the bones as remains identified as belonging to the ruler.
Thus, two clearly distinguishable assessments emerge in international coverage.
The historical affiliation of Samuil to the Bulgarian Kingdom is practically not questioned by major Western agencies and media. The dispute with North Macedonia is presented mainly as a modern dispute over historical heritage.
The international media are significantly more cautious regarding the remains themselves. Terms such as "believed to belong", "identified as" and "associated with" Tsar Samuil are used, rather than a categorical statement that their archaeological identification has been definitively proven.
The third line in the international response goes beyond the Balkan historical disputes. The transfer of the remains from Greece to Bulgaria is presented as an example of cultural diplomacy and the settlement of long-standing issues between two neighboring countries - an example that Athens has already linked to its own request for the return of the Parthenon Marbles from Britain.