Dominican President's Diplomacy Tour: From Lisbon to Vatican

Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader met with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in Lisbon and Pope Francis in the Vatican. Discussions included migration and regional issues. Pope Francis expressed interest in visiting the Dominican Republic. Abinader also plans to visit Portugal's Administrative Modernisation Agency before returning home.

(Adds detail on visit to Vatican) May 28 (Reuters) -

Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader held a private meeting with his Portuguese counterpart Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in Lisbon on Tuesday and both addressed reporters afterwards. Abinader, re-elected to a second term a little over a week ago, was also scheduled to visit the Administrative Modernisation Agency (AMA), a Portuguese public agency that deals with the digitization of administration.

On Monday, he met with Pope Francis at the Vatican. The pope's office said they had talked about migration and the regional situation. Pope Francis has previously urged priests in the Dominican Republic to help integrate migrants who have crossed from Haiti.

Last year, the Dominican Republic deported over 200,000 people back to Haiti, where a gang conflict has pushed hundreds of thousands from their homes and millions into hunger

. The foreign ministry said Pope Francis had expressed interest in visiting the Dominican Republic.

Abinader is set to return home on Saturday.