Sofia: As a part of his two-day visit to Bulgaria, which is considered as European Union's poorest country and the one that has taken a hard line against migrants, Pope Francis met the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov on Sunday.
That stance conflicts with the pontiff's view that reaching out to vulnerable people is a moral imperative.
Borissov's centre-right, pro-Brussels coalition government includes three nationalist, anti-migrant parties, which have called for the closure of EU borders to migrants and sealed off its own frontier to Turkey with a barbed-wire fence.
Meanwhile, security has been bolstered and final preparations are underway in the city's downtown where Francis will hold Sunday Mass.
The pontiff will also tour a refugee centre and dive into the Vatican's complicated relations with the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, during his two-day visit to the Balkan nation.
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