The remains of Tsar Samuil are coming back to Bulgaria under a deal with Greece. Prime minister Rumen Radev announced the news at the start of today's cabinet meeting. The government approved the agreement and cleared the culture minister to sign it with his Greek counterpart.

Under the deal, the two countries will lend each other historical artefacts, religious and cultural items and relics for safekeeping.

The handover will take place at an official ceremony on 3 October at the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki. Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will host the event, with Radev attending for Bulgaria.

Greece will also hand over remains from two more sarcophagi found in the basilica on the island of St Achilleios in Small Lake Prespa. They are thought to belong to Tsar Gavril-Radomir and other members of the royal family. Samuil built the basilica, and the remains turned up there in 1965 during a dig led by Greek archaeologist professor Nikolaos Moutsopoulos.

On the same day, Saturday 3 October, at 12:30pm, the remains will be received at Battenberg Square in front of the Princely Palace in Sofia, and Radev has invited all Bulgarians to come. A procession will then carry them to St Sofia Church, where they will be placed in a special sarcophagus.

The prime minister said Bulgaria had spent six decades trying to bring the remains home, and that this government has had the historic honour of finishing the job. He called Samuil one of the greatest medieval rulers of Bulgaria and said his memory today unites Bulgaria and Greece rather than dividing them.

Radev thanked Mitsotakis for his statesmanship, political courage and friendship, which he said bind the two countries even closer together.

"Bulgaria and Greece's shared membership of the European Union helps each country understand the other's sensitivities better," Radev said.