Russia on Tuesday welcomed the formal application by Algeria to join the BRICS, an economic-trade organization of which Moscow is a member and which also comprises Brazil, India, China and South Africa.
«We welcome the accession of our friends, partners and like-minded parties to join the work within such formats as BRICS and the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization), as well as other formats, in which we actively work,» Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov explained, as reported by the TASS news agency.
Subsequently, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov indicated that the member states of the organization «intend to negotiate the criteria and principles of the possible expansion of the partnership in the near future».
«Taking into account that we already received official applications, we hope, of course, that negotiations on the criteria and principles will not take long. We must first understand how this association will develop in its potential expansion of membership,» he said, adding that it is not only Algeria, but other countries such as Iran or Argentina, becoming a dozen candidates.
Already in August, Algerian President Abdelmayid Tebune said the country «largely» met the conditions for joining the organization and acknowledged Algeria’s interest in the group’s economic and political influence.
Thus, the leader acknowledged that BRICS membership was «possible», and predicted «good news» in the future. «Joining this group would put Algeria, a pioneer of non-alignment, safe from the friction between the two poles,» he remarked.
