On 23 January 1914, the Ministry of War sent a list of captured chetniks from the defeated detachment of Ivan Popov and Chakalarov. According to it, they are a sergeant major, 4 non-commissioned officers and 18 privates, a total of 23 persons. It was noted that the Greek side had previously promised Lieutenant Colonel Lefterov to hand them over to him. After his return to Sofia, however, the Greeks demanded direct negotiations between the Bulgarian and Greek governments regarding their release. On 5 February 1914, the Bulgarian plenipotentiary minister in Bucharest reported that Prime Minister Bratianu had promised to make strong dеmarches to Venizelos for the release of the remaining Bulgarian prisoners in Greece. Bratianu stated that “he is a sincere friend” of Bulgaria and was ready to serve in the Bulgarian interest. For Simeon Radev, if, in addition to Brătianu’s appeal to Venizelos, the Romanian cabinet also pressed Athens for a favorable resolution of the Bulgarian prisoner issue, “this initiative would mark the beginning of an era of mutual services.” On 8 February 1914 the legation in Bucharest clarified that, following Brătianu’s actions, Venizelos had telegraphed Thessaloniki for the release of the Bulgarian prisoners and would inform the Romanian legation about the names of those released within a few days. The Greek government was preparing a draft for an amnesty for crimes during the war, but expected Bulgaria to do the same. Therefore, Simeon Radev pointed out that since there were no Greek prisoners in Bulgaria, “any amnesty would be pointless.” On 12 February 1914 the Bulgarian legation informed the minister that Bratianu had made actions for the release of Bulgarian prisoners and for amnesty for crimes committed in Greece. Bratianu asked whether the Bulgarian government was ready to grant amnesty to Greeks who had committed crimes in Bulgaria. Simeon Radev explained that in Bulgaria, amnesty could be granted only by the National Assembly. According to the Bulgarian diplomat Venizelos should specify names, since he had previously raised the issue of captured and detained Greeks in Bulgaria, whereas there were none. That same day the French plenipotentiary minister in Sofia informed the Bulgarian Prime Minister that the Greek government had granted full amnesty to detained Bulgarians and was ready to restore diplomatic relations. According to Radoslavov Bulgaria was also ready to restore diplomatic relations. On 25 February 1914 the Bulgarian legation in Athens reported that after Dragoman Todorov’s visit to the islands of Mytilene and Chios, no Bulgarian prisoners were found in the local prisons. This visit was carried out thanks to the cooperation of the Greek authorities. On 3 March 1914 with a Romanian steamer from Piraeus arrived in Constantinople arrived 23 prisoners from the 2^nd and 3^rd Brigades of the MOO. The Tsar’s consul in the city arranged for them to be sent with the first available Bulgarian steamer. The military were informed by the Foreign Ministry about this only on 15 March 15, 1914. According to a handwritten list from the Bulgarian consulate in Constantinople, the prisoners were 24, headed by Sergeant Major Kosta Nikolov. On 7 March 1914 the Bulgarian diplomats in Constantinople issued certificates to two prisoners from MOO, released from Greek captivity, for their return to Bulgaria. On 9 March 1914 23 volunteer soldiers arrived in Burgas from Greece. The next day the district chief in Xanthi, Hristov telegraphed the Foreign Ministry about the return of several Bulgarian prisoners from the island of Lemnos. Despite the report from 16 February 1914 by the Bulgarian consul in Athens that they had been released, they had not yet arrived in Bulgaria.

On 12 March 1914 Dragoman Todorov from Thessaloniki informed the ministry that 152 Bulgarians were still held in Thessaloniki’s prisons. Until recently, they were 172, but 20 had been freed by paying bribes. The attached lists showed that some of them were volunteers and militia members. Two days later, the commandant’s office in Burgas notified the commander of the 3rd Divisional District that two prisoners from the 51st and 36th regiments had arrived by steamer from Greece. There had been no prior notification about them.