Mauro Vieira on bringing new partners to BRICS

Brazil’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mauro Vieira was interviewed at the Munich Security Conference on February 17, 2023 and took questions from the audience. He responded to questions on climate, the environment, food security, and touches on Brazil’s push for reform of the UN Security Council and more.

Below is a transcript of the Minister’s thoughts on bringing additional members to the BRICS. The full interview can be seen here on Kawsachun News’ YouTube channel.

Question: Hello, Minister. I’m Thorsten Benner with the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin. I’d like to ask you about how you look at the role and function of Brazil in BRICS and the function of BRICS for Brazilian foreign policy. If you compare it to the first Lula terms and the German term in which you served and now and has this partnership without limits between Russia and China made a difference in terms of how you look at your role in BRICS?

Mauro Vieira: Well, BRICS is a very, and it was a very important group that was created not by Brazil. It was a proposal that was launched. And of course, it took place with a lot of enthusiasm at the beginning because it was a group, and still is group of developing countries. And as and we are going to host the BRICS in Brazil.

We will be the presidents of BRICS in 2025. This year we’ll be from 2023 to 2024, we’ll have the presidency of the G20 and then the following year it will be the BRICS. It’s a very important, a very important group with countries that have in the past and have still today similar needs and countries that can give some contribution in this in this group.

For instance, I think and now a lot of discussions about having more receiving more members at BRICS and some countries want to have more. Others are more resistant. We have no a priori position. We think that since it’s a group of five countries, we can discuss openly and if there is consensus for enlargement of this group, of course we would like to see more countries taking part to be able to give their contribution to the goals and to the programs of BRICS.

BRICS is not only an economic gathering, not an economic group. We have policies in many different areas like education, health and the cooperation in different areas: Scientific, technological, research is in all areas. So it’s very important to bring new names and new partners.

By Kawsachun News