Belarus officially became BRICS partner
Belarus has officially become a BRICS partner, sb.by reports with reference to the Belarusian Foreign Ministry
On November 5th, Belarus’ President Aleksandr Lukashenko signed a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the country’s readiness to join BRICS as a partner. Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov handed the document to Russian Ambassador Boris Gryzlov as he met the Russian diplomat.
“An official response to a written invitation is a mandatory element of the procedure agreed by the member states for obtaining partnership status. It is from this moment that a country is officially considered a BRICS partner,” the Foreign Ministry’s press service explained.
In his message, the President of Belarus stressed that since the formation of BRICS, it has been steadily strengthening multilateral interaction, becoming not just a symbol, but one of the pillars of multipolarity. Not only the member states, but also an increasing number of countries that make up the global majority, pin their hopes for a just world order on this association. The spirit of mutual respect and equality and the attractiveness of its goals inevitably lead to the expansion of BRICS.
Aleksandr Lukashenko thanked his Russian counterpart for the support and noted with particular satisfaction that Belarus’ participation in BRICS as a partner is being formalised precisely during the Russian presidency.
Thus, Belarus confirmed its compliance with the necessary standards and criteria and agreed to follow the guidelines of the BRICS partner countries model. Among these principles are highlighted: the spirit of mutual respect and understanding, equality, solidarity, openness, inclusiveness and consensus; the focus on strengthening the BRICS co-operation framework through partnership across three main areas – politics and security, economy and finance, culture and interpersonal contacts; the focus on strengthening multilateral interaction, promoting and updating the multilateral system and maintaining international law; the adoption of the goals and principles enshrined in the UN Charter as an integral cornerstone of multilateral interaction and international law; support for a comprehensive reform of the international financial architecture to reflect changes in the global economic landscape, to accelerate progress in achieving SDGs, to take into account the legitimate interests of the Global South and to enhance the role and representation of developing countries in international economic and financial governance.
Belarus also meets all the required standards and criteria, in particular, it is a state with influence in the region and the world, has diplomatic relations with all the BRICS member states, has not joined sanctions bypassing the UN Security Council, promotes peace and security at the international and regional levels, supports sustainable socio-economic development.
“The status of a partner country, among other things, envisages the participation on a permanent basis in special sessions of summits and meetings of the BRICS foreign ministers. It is also possible to invite partners to other ministerial-level events, such as trade-related sessions, national security meetings and a parliamentary forum. Partners can join the final BRICS documents, thus expanding their geographical coverage and strengthening the voice of the association in international affairs,” the Foreign Ministry noted.
