MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. Former Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria Karin Kneissl explained why French President Emmanuel Macron is so interested in attending the BRICS Summit in South Africa in a conversation with TASS.
Commenting on this topic, the ex-minister noted that, after she assumed her office, she asked her colleagues to provide any documents on how Austria or the EU sees the BRIC, which later became the BRICS.
"There was not a single paper, not a single one. And this is what I call Eurocentrism, you see, because this was absent during debates in the EU. And it is interesting that they were simply not interested in this, and now Macron is knocking on the door, seeks to get in, saying: ‘May I come to the party, please? No, I have not actually been invited, but I would like to become a part of the party.’ We observe a total transformation of geopolitics, international relations, which also affects institutions," she underscored.
However, she pointed out that it is necessary to consider the fact that the institutions in question are not the ones based in Geneva and Vienna.
"Now these institutions are located elsewhere - it is the BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization - it’s like a Eurasian Union now. For decades and decades, many European capitals, the European Union simply paid no attention to it, they disregarded it. And the BRICS is very lucrative economically as well, when we are talking about transformation of the currency basket, for example," she added.
She pointed out the remarks made by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin. He said that the BRICS abbreviation sounds like "brick" in English, and the member states of the association, which will grow bigger and stronger, are the foundation of an equal world.
"What Mr. Naryshkin said earlier, I liked it. […] If I understood Mr. Naryshkin correctly, it is being discussed that the organization is open for a much larger membership," Kneissl said.
The BRICS Summit will take place on August 22-24 in Johannesburg. Ahead of the summit, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said that the republic had not sent an invitation to the French leader. Previously, the French President sought to take part in the summit’s events.