BULGARIA: KING SIMEON II MAKES AN EMOTIONAL RETURN TO BULGARIA AFTER FIFTY YEARS IN EXILE

Record ID: 639915

  • Title: BULGARIA: KING SIMEON II MAKES AN EMOTIONAL RETURN TO BULGARIA AFTER FIFTY YEARS IN EXILE
  • Date: 25th May 1996
  • Summary: BULGARIA, SOFIA (MAY 25, 1996) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV: LARGE CROWDS IN SOFIA WAITING TO SEE KING (2 SHOTS) 0.35 2. GV: KING ENTERS ROOM/ MEDIA (5 SHOTS) 0.51 3. GV: KING WAVING TO CROWDS LINING THE STREETS/ KING'S MOTORCADE (3 SHOTS) 1.10 4. GV: CROWDS GATHERED OUTSIDE CATHEDRAL 1.19 5. GV: KING ENTERS PRESS CONFERENCE 1.31 6 MCU: KING SPEAKING TO PRESS (ENGLISH)/ CUTAWAYS (5 SHOTS) 2.29 -------------------------------------------------------------------- TRANSCRIPT SEQUENCE 6: KING SIMEON: "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. I AM APOLOGISING FOR THE DELAY. FORTUNATELY THIS DELAY WAS DUE TO, I WOULD SAY, EXCEPTIONALLY MOVING CIRCUMSTANCES. ALL I CAN SAY FOR OUR FOREIGN FRIENDS HERE IS THAT I HAVED LIVED TO SEE WHAT I SAW TODAY, AND BE IN FRONT OF YOU RIGHT NOW, IS THANKS TO THE FACT THAT OUR COUNTRY IS A DEMOCRACY, THAT WE RESPECT OUR INSTITUTIONS AND LAWS AND WE FEEL DEEPLY AND SINCERELY CONVINCED THAT WE ARE ONE MORE EUROPEAN COUNTRY." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
  • Embargoed: 9th June 1996 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SOFIA, BULGARIA
  • City:
  • Country: Bulgaria
  • Reuters ID: LVABXOAPP4MKP4SZ9OSGJ0J7KJJY
  • Story Text: INTRO: Bulgaria's King Simeon II came home after 50 years of exile on Saturday to a rapturous welcome from royalist crowds and a cold-shoulder from the socialist government.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------- Tens of thousands of Bulgarians turned out waving flags and banners to welcome the 58-year-old king, who works as a business consultant in Madrid, after a 50-year absence.

    The socialist government, made up of former communists, is treating Simeon as a private citizen and sent nobody to greet him at the airport.

    State television did not film his arrival and state radio made only a fleeting reference to Simeon Coburgotski, the name his Bulgarian passport bears.

    Royalist fever had mounted before his long-awaited return but few Bulgarians appear to want him back as king.

    A survey published in the daily Standart showed a majority regarded Simeon as a cultivated man but only 16 percent backed a restoration of the monarchy.

    A Saxe-Coburg, Simeon is related to many European monarchs, including Britain's Queen Elizabeth.

    Simeon and his wife are expected to stay in Bulgaria for about three weeks. They will travel around the country to see how the people live.

    Simeon has not ruled out running for president at some point in the future and has made clear he wants to make a contribution as Bulgaria makes its tortuous transition to a more open and prosperous society after four decades of communism.

    Tens of thousands of people lined the route from the airport into the capital, many holding portraits of the balding, bearded monarch who last saw his homeland as a child.

    "This is a moment of great excitement for us all," Sofia Mayor Stefan Sofianski, a prominent monarchist, told Reuters after welcoming Simeon and his aristocratic Spanish wife Margarita at the airport.

    Excited monarchists packed into the VIP lounge chanted "Simeon" and "We want our king back".

    "Spring has arrived in Bulgaria. The country will benefit from Simeon's presence, whether it treats him as just a private citizen or as the king," said businessman Augustin Peichinov, a member of the welcoming party.

    In the VIP lounge were Orthodox priests in flowing robes and women in national costume. Girls welcomed the couple bread and salt in accordance with Slavic traditions of hospitality.

    A beaming Simeon, clearly choked with emotion and unable to make any statement to the waiting press, was steered to a dark blue Mercedes by guards of a private security firm employed to protect him and his wife.

    The police are deploying extra officers to maintain order but not taking responsibility for the king's safety.

    Many streets were closed to traffic and mounted policemen patrolled the route Simeon's cortege took.

    Some 15,000 people gathered before Saint Alexander Nevski, Sofia's huge gold-domed cathedral where they waved the Bulgarian red, green and white tricolor flag and clutched geraniums, a symbol of goodwill in the Balkan country.

    Adding to the festive atmosphere, the cathedral bells rang.


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