科斯塔斯·坎图里斯、韦塞林·托什科夫 希腊塞萨洛尼基——中世纪统治者沙皇萨穆埃尔的遗骸将于周六抵达保加利亚，此前两国就此事进行了数十年谈判。
COSTAS KANTOURIS, VESELIN TOSHKOV THESSALONIKI, Greece — The remains of medieval ruler Czar Samuel will arrive in Bulgaria on Saturday, after decades of negotiations with neighboring Greece .
萨穆埃尔是一位通过与拜占庭帝国作战来扩张王国的武将统治者，但最终败北，并于1014年不久后去世。他被视为保加利亚民族认同的象征。
Samuel was a warrior ruler who battled the Byzantine Empire to expand his kingdom, but was ultimately defeated and died shortly afterward in 1014. He is considered a symbol of Bulgaria’s national identity.
这些遗骸于60年前在希腊边境地区发现，将由军机空运至保加利亚首都索非亚，并以最高礼仪迎接，包括战斗机护航、鸣放21响礼炮，以及护送至圣索菲亚教堂，供公众瞻仰悼念。
The remains – discovered in a Greek border area 60 years ago – are to be flown to the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, aboard a military aircraft to be received with full state honors, including a fighter jet escort, a 21-gun salute and a procession to the Church of St. Sophia, where the public will be able to pay respects.
周六的移交仪式是在两国文化部长本周早些时候达成一项协议后举行的。根据协议，保加利亚将归还第一次世界大战期间从希腊修道院取走的宗教圣物。
Saturday’s handover follows an agreement earlier this week between the two countries’ culture ministers, under which Bulgaria will return religious relics taken from Greek monasteries during World War I.
希腊多位知名学者和宗教领袖批评这一安排，认为保加利亚方面的举措不够充分。
Several prominent Greek academics and religious leaders have criticized the arrangement as inadequate on the Bulgarian side.
希腊总理基里亚科斯·米佐塔基斯和保加利亚总理鲁门·拉德夫出席了移交仪式前在塞萨洛尼基拜占庭文明博物馆举行的典礼，遗骸此前一直存放于该馆。
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his Bulgarian counterpart Rumen Radev attended a ceremony at Thessaloniki’s Museum of Byzantine Civilization, where the remains were kept, before the handover.
拉德夫在塞萨洛尼基拜占庭文明博物馆举行的典礼上说：“这些物件属于我们两个民族；它们承载着我们的共同记忆，也是连接我们的纽带。我们的同胞和子孙后代理应且必须有机会向自己的祖先致敬。”
“These are items that belong to both our peoples; they constitute our memory and our bond, and our compatriots and future generations deserve and must have the opportunity to pay tribute to their ancestors,” Radev said, speaking at the ceremony held in Thessaloniki’s Museum of Byzantine Civilization.
拉德夫说：“如果说过去的沙皇萨穆埃尔曾让我们分裂，那么我可以说，如今的他让我们团结。他加强了我们的战略合作，使我们两国和两族人民之间的历史联系更加紧密。”
“If in the past Czar Samuel divided us, I can say that today he unites us. He strengthens our strategic cooperation and makes the historical relations between our states and peoples even stronger,” Radev said.
米佐塔基斯表示，他希望星期六举行的仪式能够推动希腊在国际上为归还帕特农神庙大理石雕而开展的努力。这批距今已有2500年的大理石雕塑从雅典卫城被取走，后来陈列于大英博物馆。“国际社会正在从本质上重新审视其长期以来在保护文化遗产问题上的立场，”米佐塔基斯说。“这一转变体现在今天的倡议之中
Mitsotakis said he hoped Saturday’s ceremony would bolster Greece’s international campaign to return the Parthenon Marbles , a collection of 2,500-year-old marble sculptures taken from the Acropolis in Athens and later displayed in the British Museum. “The global community is essentially re-evaluating its long-standing stance on protecting cultural heritage,” Mitsotakis said. “This shift is embodied by today’s initiative, which rests on the obvious principle that monuments and historical heirlooms cannot be treated as spoils of war, nor as the result of circumstances subsequent to their creation.”