site.bta President Plevneliev Criticizes Way Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Makes Requests to Bulgaria

President Plevneliev Criticizes Way Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Makes Requests to Bulgaria

Sofia, November 11 (BTA) - Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew's 
request that Bulgaria return church relics was not made in the 
proper place or way, President Rosen Plevneliev said on 
Wednesday after attending the swearing-in of the new 
constitutional judges.

Plevneliev recalled that the Bulgarian public has long been
aware of these claims, which are unfounded.
 
After being decorated with Bulgaria's highest state honour, the
 Order of the Balkan Range, First Class, by Plevneliev on
Monday,  the Ecumenical Patriarch asked that Bulgaria return all
 church  artefacts and books originating from Northern Greece,
which were  taken during wars and turmoil in the Balkan
Peninsula in the  20th century.

"It is not possible to anticipate what the Ecumenical Patriarch
will say or express as claim in his speech. We were definitely
taken by surprise. Bartholomew I received an award for his
efforts and support for the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in the
past," Plevneliev said. He was responding to comments in the
Bulgarian press on Wednesday that the Ecumenical Patriarch
should not have been given the high award. The head of State is
not vested with powers to decide on his own on conferring the
Balkan Range Order. In the specific case, the proposal has come
from the Foreign Ministry with the support of the Bulgarian
Academy of Sciences. 

 Plevneliev encouraged the continuation of diplomatic
negotiations for the return of Bulgarian Tsar Samuel's
(997-1014) remains from Greece, so that he can be given a state
funeral in Bulgaria.