Six new countries, including Argentina, will be included in the BRICS from January next year

The leaders of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) on Thursday announced the “historic” admission of six new members from next year, including Argentina, at a time when the club of emerging countries is trying to gain influence . on the international stage.

Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates will join the group from January 1, 2024, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said at a joint press conference with the leaders of the five countries that are currently part from the group. the block.

“With this summit, the BRICS are entering a new chapter,” said Ramaphosa.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva welcomed the new members on the X platform (formerly Twitter) and dedicated “a special message” to Argentine President Alberto Fernández, a “great friend of Brazil and the developing world”.

Speaking from Buenos Aires, Fernández said Argentina has proposed joining the BRICS because it is “an important geopolitical and financial benchmark, though not the only one, for these developing countries.”

Argentina’s two main presidential candidates for October’s election, far-right Javier Milei and right-wing Patricia Bullrich, today rejected the South American country’s announced entry into the BRICS.

“The presence at this BRICS meeting of dozens of leaders from other countries of the Global South shows that the world is more complex than the Cold War mentality that some want to restore,” added Lula.

For Chinese President Xi Jinping, this “historic expansion” portends a “bright future for the countries” of the bloc.

Iran celebrated its accession as a “strategic success for the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy”, while the Ethiopian government saw the accession as a “strong moment” for the country, with the United Arab Emirates also welcoming its accession.

Riyadh reacted more cautiously: Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said he “appreciated the invitation”, although he will await details on “the nature of the accession”.

The issue of alliance expansion was a priority at this summit, which ends tonight.

About 40 countries had applied for membership or expressed a desire to join the bloc, founded in 2009, which accounts for nearly a quarter of GDP and 42% of the world’s population.

The negotiations took place on Wednesday in a plenary session behind closed doors and in several bilateral meetings.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is under international arrest warrant for war crimes in Ukraine, spoke at the summit via video conference.

Global governance structures “reflect yesterday’s world,” UN chief Antonio Guterres, present at the summit, admitted. Multilateral institutions “must be reformed to reflect current power and economic realities,” he added.

Rivals?

According to observers, member states must strike a balance between their proximity to China and Russia and the risk of turning away from a major trading partner such as the United States.

The bloc will soon include “the United States’ biggest geopolitical rival (China) and one of its historic strategic allies (Saudi Arabia),” as well as “two international pariahs from a Western perspective,” Russia and Iran, the group said of experts. Oxford Economics Africa.

The United States, for its part, has already said it sees no future “geopolitical rivals” in the BRICS and wants to maintain its current “solid relations” with Brazil, India and South Africa.

China’s expansion ambitions likely played a role in the decision to rapidly expand the bloc, says Eurasia Group’s Ziyaanda Stuurman. Given the new composition, Beijing could have an advantage, he said.

As a heterogeneous alliance, the BRICS share a demand for a more inclusive global balance. At the meeting, the BRICS reaffirmed their ‘non-aligned’ stance, in a context of division resulting from the conflict in Ukraine. (JO)

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