The Latest: Pope to address Bulgaria’s anti-migrant stance
Posted May 5, 2019 12:12 am.
SOFIA, Bulgaria — The Latest on Pope Francis’ trip to Bulgaria (all times local):
10 a.m.
Pope Francis has arrived in Bulgaria, the European Union’s poorest country and one that taken a hard line against migrants.
That stance conflicts with the pontiff’s view that reaching out to vulnerable people is a moral imperative.
On a two-day trip that began Sunday, Francis plans to tour a refugee centre and dive into the Vatican’s complicated relations with the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
Later in the day, Francis is meeting with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, whose centre-right, pro-Brussels coalition government includes three nationalist, anti-migrant parties. The government has called for the closure of EU borders to migrants and sealed off its own frontier to Turkey with a barbed-wire fence.
Bulgaria, which joined the EU in 2007, is the bloc’s poorest country, with the lowest average monthly salary — 575 euros ($645) — and the smallest average monthly pension of 190 euros ($213).
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9 a.m.
Pope Francis is heading to Bulgaria, the European Union’s poorest country and one that taken a hard line against migrants, which conflicts with the pontiff’s view that reaching out to vulnerable people is a moral imperative.
Francis is expected to visit a refugee centre during his two-day visit starting Sunday, as well as dive into the Vatican’s complicated relations with the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The trip ends with a daylong stop Tuesday in neighbouring North Macedonia, the first by a pope.
Francis starts his Bulgarian trip by meeting with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, whose centre-right, pro-Brussels coalition government includes three nationalist, anti-migrant parties. The government has called for the closure of EU borders to migrants and sealed off its own frontier to Turkey with a barbed-wire fence.
The Argentine pope has made the plight of migrants and refugees a hallmark of his papacy. His visit falls just three weeks before European Parliament elections across the EU’s 28 nations in which nationalist, anti-migrant parties are expected to make a solid showing.
The Associated Press
