The EU was dug into a corner by BRICS? Perhaps stimulated by the expansion of the BRICS countries, the EU has recently shown a strong willingness to expand. However, in the face of a rare olive branch from the EU, the country actually "turned" to the BRICS countries ...
(BRICS)
Bosnia and Herzegovina rejected the EU's invitation: ready to join the BRICS
Recently, the President of the Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, said that he would propose to the central government of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnia and Herzegovina) to apply for membership in the BRICS organization.
It is reported that Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of two entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska. And Dodik's comments came after the BRICS organization announced its expansion last week, adding six new members; The European Union also followed suit by announcing the organization's "expansion schedule", showing a strong willingness to expand.
Dodik posted on his social account that as the EU continues to propose new and unclear conditions for joining, he believes that as an alternative, Bosnia and Herzegovina should submit an application to join the BRICS. He believes that before joining the EU, it may be accepted by the BRICS countries earlier.
(Milorad Dodik, President of the Republika Srpska of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Recently, European Council President Michel announced at the 18th Bled Strategy Forum that the EU will discuss enlargement at the next summit, and he also stressed that the EU must be ready to admit Western Balkan countries as new members by 2030. He also asked future member states to "implement the necessary reforms" to meet EU standards and to manage bilateral conflicts before joining the bloc.
As for the countries of the Western Balkans that Michel refers to, they include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, Algeria and North Macedonia. Due to multiple factors, among the above countries, only Croatia joined the EU in 2013, and other countries have been rejected by the EU although they are in varying degrees of accession. It is worth mentioning that at last year's EU Winter Summit, Bosnia and Herzegovina received the status of an EU candidate country.
How attractive is BRICS? Even Macron favors
In the final analysis, Michelle's sudden goal of EU enlargement at this moment is actually taking the initiative to extend an olive branch to countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia that previously wanted to "join" the EU. This move coincided with the expansion of the BRICS, which obviously brought great stimulus to the EU.
(European Council President Michelle)
According to statistics, the GDP of the enlarged BRICS has surpassed that of the G7, and such a strong economic and diplomatic influence will inevitably have a violent impact on the EU's international status.
According to public information, in addition to the 6 new member countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia who are about to be invited to join the BRICS, more than 20 countries are lining up to apply to join the BRICS family. At present, the BRICS countries account for nearly half of the world's population, which will further enhance the voice, influence and representation of developing countries and emerging economies.
In fact, in addition to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbian President Vučić also previously said that the country may face a choice between the EU and BRICS countries in the future.
How attractive are the BRICS countries? There is no need to elaborate, after all, it is the degree that even French President Macron favors it. Earlier, French media broke the news that Macron expressed his "strong interest" in BRICS countries to South Africa, the rotating chair of this year's BRICS countries, as early as early June this year. He even offered the idea of "participating in this BRICS summit" in a phone call with South African President Ramaphosa.
(Macron also wants to attend the BRICS summit)
The EU is one of the initiators of the global geopolitical struggle, so it faces many additional conditions for new members to join. Although it is not ruled out that Bosnia and Herzegovina's move is to use joining the BRICS as a bargaining chip to put pressure on the EU and force the other side to lower the threshold for accession. However, one thing is certain: if the EU continues to adhere to the harsh accession conditions, when the Balkans have no hope of joining the EU, it will not be able to truly enter the arms of the BRICS countries.
For the BRICS countries, being able to absorb more countries from different regions is ultimately more beneficial than disadvantageous!