Pretenders

The adoption of a “common” surname by Prince Pavlos and nine other members of the former royal family, spanning two generations, marks the definitive closure of one of the last unresolved chapters of the post-junta era.

Members of Greece's former royal family have applied for Greek citizenship and formally acknowledged the country's republican system of government, in a landmark move 50 years after the monarchy was abolished.

Members of Greece's former royal family have regained Greek citizenship and formally acknowledged the country's republican system of government, in a landmark move 50 years after the monarchy was abolished.

50 years ago, on December 8, 1974, on a sunny Sunday, the Greeks, in seemingly the most democratic way, through a referendum and in a state of full freedom, solved once and for all the question of the form of government. It was a problem nearly inherent in the establishment of the modern Greek state, which had divided the Greek people and had been the cause of many calamities.

The flag of the North-Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was solemnly raised in front of the Presidency in Bulgaria's capital Sofia.

Bulgarian President and Bulgarian Armed Forces' Commander-in-Chief Rosen Plevneliev personally received the formation of the guards at the front entrance of his office at 11:00 local time (EEST).

The family of an army mine-clearer who was killed while trying to disarm a landmine in Evros, northern Greece, in 1998, has been granted 350,000 euros in compensation.

Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha will have to return to the state the mountain chalet Saragyol, a Sofia court has decided.

The decision has come a week after the same court issuing a similar ruling regarding another property claimed by Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Bulgaria’s former prime minister (2001-2005) who was the country’s child king before the monarchy was overthrown in 1946.

Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, formerly Tsar and Prime Minister of Bulgaria, is to appeal a court ruling under which the royal residence Tsarska Bistitsa is a state property.

A Sofia court has ruled that the royal residence Tsarska Bistritsa must be returned to the state by Bulgaria’s former Tsar and PM Simeon Saxe-Coburg and his sister Maria-Louisa.

Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha, former leader of the Bulgarian National Movement for Stability and Progress, and the country's ex-king, has been proposed for EU Commissioner.