Serbia wants to join BRICS, not EU: First International Conference

BRICS Parliament in Belgrade
The Serbian Parliament held an international parliamentary conference on Monday, "BRICS - Serbia among friends", where it was stated, among other things, that the group is open to all countries, that it does not threaten anyone's sovereignty and that there are no conditions for cooperation, Belgrade media reported.

The conference was organized by the Socialist Movement of former BIA head Aleksandar Vulin and the Informal Parliamentary Group for Cooperation and Accession to BRICS, in collaboration with the Institute for Strategic Social Dialogue.

Aleksandar Vulin, speaking on behalf of the organizers, said that "the number of people gathered here today shows that this has become an act of civic courage. Be brave because you dare to say that you do not support unconditional membership in the EU."

"And where is the fundamental European principle of pluralism, the right to a different opinion? Every citizen of Serbia should say what he thinks and what is good for him," Vulin told the crowd.

He recalled that "Brussels is asking Belgrade to recognize Kosovo's independence, give up support for the Bosnian entity Republika Srpska, and destroy traditional friendly relations with Russia and China," RIA Novosti reported Vulin's statement.

The goals of this first conference in Serbia on BRICS are, as stated, to open a broad public debate on Serbia's place and role in the world and to show that Serbia's European path has a "clear and promising alternative - cooperation with the BRICS organization", the organizers said in a statement.

"BRICS plays a key role in creating a multipolar world," claimed the Russian Ambassador to Serbia, Aleksandr Bocan-Kharchenko, who was present at the conference in the Serbian Parliament, RIA Novosti also reports.

Bocan-Kharchenko said that Russia supports Serbia's desire to join BRICS and assessed that this does not jeopardize Serbia's path towards the European Union, which is its priority.

In addition to the Russian Ambassador to Serbia, the event was attended by the Ambassador of Belarus to Serbia Serhiy Malinovsky, the Chinese Ambassador Li Ming, representatives of the embassies of Algeria, Iran, Egypt, Cuba, Mexico, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, Myanmar and countries in the region.

"BRICS was created in 2006 as a real response to the many changes that the international community requires. BRICS is an organization that best fits the idea of ​​a multipolar world. This change is very important, it certainly does not happen overnight, it is a longer process and there is no doubt that BRICS will play a key and decisive role in this whole process," the Russian ambassador told those present.

He noted that Western analysts point to the atypical structure of BRICS, but this is the advantage of the organization as an association of equal participants based on mutual respect.

In his speech at the conference, Chinese Ambassador Li Ming welcomed the fact that the Serbian Parliament has a parliamentary group for cooperation with BRICS because "BRICS has a growing economic influence because it promotes common development in the world and has almost half of the world's population."

"BRICS has grown into a comprehensive strategic mechanism for cooperation in various fields and brings tangible benefits," Li said, adding that the group represents "true multilateralism and speaks with one voice in international bodies."

According to him, BRICS contributes to fairer and more equitable governance in a changing world, while the global order is threatened by hegemonism, unilateralism, protectionism and unfair activities such as trade and customs.
Representative of the parliamentary group of

Serbian Parliament's representative for BRICS, Dragan Stanojevic, said that Serbian society can accept that BRICS members are friendly, that none of them has threatened Serbia's sovereignty, and assessed that Serbia is in BRICS "as if in its natural environment."

RIA Novosti recalls that Vulin's Socialist Movement announced in July that the declaration from the BRICS summit in Brazil offers Serbia a concrete alternative to integration into the European Union instead of empty promises from Brussels, which should be accepted.

Russian media also recalled that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said in October last year that the popularity of BRICS, according to the results of a public opinion poll in Serbia, had reached 42 percent, but stressed that Belgrade would not deviate from its path towards the EU, although he admitted that, perhaps, "in a few years, BRICS will become the subject of a referendum in Serbia."

Russia's TASS, in an article titled "Serbian Parliament Gathers Full Hall at 'Serbia Among Friends' Conference," wrote that the meeting hall was packed, stating that MPs, diplomats, church representatives, journalists and other guests from many countries were in attendance, "which indicates great interest in the event." /The Geopost/