The European Union is interested in an open dialogue with BRICS countries on various levels, with the process of building a constructive relationship between the parties already launched, France Jamet, a member of the European Parliament from France, has said.
"I believe we are at the beginning of a new process, and I am glad. I am interested in us being able to engage in a dialogue with BRICS countries," Jamet was quoted by the Voice of Europe portal as saying during a conference of the European Parliament on the EU-BRICS relations on Thursday.
Meanwhile, another member of the European Parliament, Marcel de Graaff, said that if the EU wants to develop close and mutually beneficial relations with BRICS, it should review its own policy and stop creating a situation threatening Russia's security.
"At the moment, the EU is not looking in the mirror and does not see that it itself provoked the change of regime in Ukraine; which effectively jeopardized Russia's security. What you need to do to approach BRICS is to start looking, really looking, in the mirror and then start working on an equal basis from an economic perspective. Start with the economy and start respecting the autonomy of other countries," de Graaff said.
It was the first conference on the EU-BRICS relations in the European Parliament. The event dubbed "The Rising Power of BRICS: Implications for the European Union" brought together 22 European lawmakers and representatives of BRICS member states.
BRICS, established in 2009, is a group uniting the world's largest developing economies, which currently includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. BRICS+ is a company with a presence in 186 countries whose goal is to promote cooperation between member states and other countries.
In August, the 15th top-level BRICS summit in Johannesburg extended invitations to Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to join the bloc. Their full membership is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2024.