The three-day BRICS summit in South Africa is drawing to a close.
Photo: REUTERS
The three-day BRICS summit finished its work in South Africa on Thursday. Many experts, even before it began, assured that a political and diplomatic event of the highest level awaited us all. So in the end it happened.
The dramaturgy of this summit kept everyone interested in geopolitics on their toes from the beginning and, indeed, to the very end. In fact, the plot masterfully turned around two extremely important questions for the future of international relations: will the BRICS expand and exactly how many states will be invited to this elite club?
Did the “five” beat the “ten”?
On the first day, on the sidelines of the summit, there was much and emphatic talk that there will definitely be an expansion. Even specific figures were mentioned. It was rumored that the “five” BRICS would grow to become “ten”.
Decisions were expected on the second day of the summit, after the completion of the BRICS leaders’ negotiations in a reduced and expanded format. Time passed and no one made loud statements. The tension grew and with it the rumors. There were even those in the summit media center who suggested that the summit would end in nothing.
Pandora opened her “box”
And then the news agencies flashed with lightning. The head of the South African Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Naledi Pandor, tried to calm the tense situation to the limit.
– We agreed on the issue of expansion, we have a document that we have adopted, which establishes … principles, processes for considering countries wishing to become members of the BRICS, – he said.
However, many of the journalists who heard this statement in the summit’s press center did not even try to hide their disappointment.
– And where is the statement with the name of specific countries? Now will they negotiate for another year over who conforms to the agreed principles? – An Indian journalist sitting next to me commented with annoyance in his voice.
The foreign ministers of Russia and South Africa, Sergei Lavrov and Naledi Pandor, before the start of negotiations at the BRICS summit.
Photo: REUTERS
Sherpa revived the intrigue.
But this, as it turned out later, was not the culmination, but only the development of the action. Closer to the evening of the second day of the summit, the intrigue of the Sherpa in the BRICS of South Africa, Anil Suklal, revived. At the beginning he stressed in particular that enlargement should start from well-considered positions. And then he made an extremely optimistic announcement: “Tomorrow morning they (the leaders of the five states-ed.) Will have another meeting to finalize the list of countries. Then there will be a press conference tomorrow morning where President Ramaposa will formally announce the list of countries that all BRICS members have agreed to.”
Which countries have become new members of the BRICS after two days of negotiations?
However, someone familiar with what really happened behind the closed doors of the leaders’ talks could not resist. And at night he “leaked” to the media the list of countries that were accepted into the BRICS. They were Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Argentina.
And yet, the whole world was waiting for the official confirmation of this information from the BRICS leaders. A few minutes before the start of the final press conference, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: “The results are brilliant. “Isolation” as an American weapon has been defeated forever.”
The South African president had no choice but to confirm the nightly information. And also add one more country: Ethiopia. Officially, the new “six” will become full members of the BRICS from June 1, 2024. This is stated in the Johannesburg Declaration adopted on Thursday.
“Other phases” to follow
– We have reached a consensus on the first phase of the enlargement process. Other phases will follow,” Ramaphosa explained.
And he added that the time has come to use local currencies, alternative payment systems. True, he did not give details on how exactly this will be implemented.
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