Pope Warns Trump, Putin Against Dangerous Alliance

Pope Francis warned world leaders at the G20 summit against forming “dangerous alliances” that could harm migrants and the poor.
Francis said: “I worry about very dangerous alliances among powers that have a distorted vision of the world: America and Russia, China and North Korea, Putin and Assad in the war in Syria” in an interview with the Italian newspaper, La Repubblica.
He added that the summit in Hamburg, Germany worried him, and advised Europe not to close its borders off to migrants.
Francis, the first non-European pope in 1,300 years, said: “Our main and unfortunately growing problem in the world today is that of the poor, the weak, the excluded, which includes migrants.”
“This is why the G20 worries me: It mainly hits immigrants,” he added.
On Friday, Francis reminded world leaders of the 30 million people trapped in conflict and famine, especially in Africa and Yemen.
He also called Europe the “richest continent in the whole world” and urged it not to close off its borders.
European Union states are at odds over how to cope with a huge influx of migrants, many fleeing war and poverty in Syria, Afghanistan and other countries.
While leaders at the summit agreed to support free trade and fight terrorism during the meetings on Friday and Saturday, they could not reach a consensus on migration.
The leaders disagreed on whether to pursue United Nations sanctions such as asset freezes and travel bans against criminals smuggling people from Africa and the Middle East to Europe.
Members of the European Union were largely in support of such sanctions, but several other countries opposed it.
And during a working session on migration and health in Africa, on Saturday, Trump stepped out for a bilateral meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, while First Daughter Ivanka Trump took over his seat at the table.

The 79-year old Pontiff has been vocal about his support for migrants, and urged Europe not to see them as criminals.
Francis made his pointed comments in the presence of top EU leaders like German Chancellor Angela Merkel in May, asking: “What has happened to you, the Europe of humanism, the champion of human rights, democracy and freedom?”
Francis also famously slammed Trump during the presidential campaign, saying his proposal to build a wall along the southern US border showed he was “not Christian”.

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