MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Pope Francis was speaking at a meeting with Bulgaria’s President Rosen Plevneliev and his delegation. The event was timed to 1150 years since the start of diplomatic relations between the Vatican and the southeastern European state.
"Pope Francis has urged to seek a solution to unite the interests of all communities, taking into account that ‘most sacred concern is precisely the average person that deserves to ask for their dignity to be respected’," the office of the Bulgarian president quoted the pontiff in its statement.
Bulgaria was a gateway for Central Asian and Middle Eastern migrants and refugees seeking to enter Europe from Turkey. It built a razor-wire fence along the Turkish border in 2015 to put off thousands of people fleeing war and poverty from travelling north.