The foreign ministers of the BRICS countries met in South Africa to discuss the future of the bloc. “They want to show that the world has become multipolar,” said geopolitical analyst Alex Krijger. “And we’d better take it seriously.”

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa together form BRICS, a grouping that increasingly opposes Western countries and organizations like the G7. The bloc’s foreign ministers are currently meeting in Cape Town.

They want to show at summits like this that the world order is changing, said geopolitical analyst Krijger. ‘That the world is more than just the United States versus China. And of course they have a point. The BRICS countries represent 3.2 billion people or 40 percent of the world’s population. We in Europe only represent 5 to 6 percent.”

More and more countries want to join

Moreover, more and more countries want to join the club. ‘Saudi Arabia and Iran want to join. And also countries like Egypt, Indonesia and Nigeria. These are all countries with large populations that will be major economic players in the next ten to twenty years.’

But Krijger fulfilled the conditions for unity in BRICS. “Beijing wants this country to become a kind of G5 China. But it doesn’t work that way. Relations with India are not warm enough to do this. And India cannot simply be lumped into one camp. The country believes it is important to show that the world order is changing.’

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Therefore, analysts do not yet consider BRICS as a G7 partner. “But we have to take this block seriously,” he said. “When countries like Brazil or India offer help to think about Ukraine’s future, we tend to say: ‘that’s OK, it’s something important for us’. But it’s very uncomfortable. You really have to get those countries involved.’

Will Putin go or not?

One of the questions haunting the summit in Cape Town is what will happen in August when BRICS leaders meet in the city. Russian President Vladimir Putin was also invited. But in that case, South Africa, as a member of the Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC), had to arrest him.

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“At the moment I don’t think Putin will come,” Krijger said. “But the summit will be held in two months. Meanwhile, many things will happen. Imagine a counteroffensive and a NATO summit in Lithuania. The world will look very different in two months’ time.’