About 13 countries would like to join the BRICS
South African Ambassador to Russia Mzuvukile Maketka said that about 13 countries are interested in joining the BRICS, slightly less than half of them have already submitted official applications.
According to the diplomat, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Bahrain, as well as Saudi Arabia and the UAE are on the list of candidates.
The representative of South Africa added that his country supports the expansion of the international organization, but calls for clarifying the criteria for accession.
«We don’t know yet what criteria will be used, but in this process we will have to get the consent of all BRICS participants», – Mzuvukile Maketuka said.
«This is how BRICS works – according to the principle of consensus, we do not have the right of veto», – he added.
The BRICS chairmanship is transferred annually to one of the participating countries. Since the beginning of December, this place has been occupied by the Republic of South Africa, currently the last of the countries to join the organization. Now the BRICS includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Source: RG.RU