Belarus has officially become a BRICS partner.

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The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the country is officially a "BRICS partner." In a written statement from the ministry, it was noted that Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko signed a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 5, indicating that Belarus is ready to join BRICS as a "partner."

It was stated in the announcement that during the acceptance of the letter by Belarusian Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhenkov from the Russian Ambassador to Minsk, Boris Gryzlov, "A formal response to a written invitation is a mandatory element of the procedure for obtaining the status of a partner accepted by member states. From that moment on, the country is officially recognized as a BRICS partner."

LUKASHENKO'S MESSAGE ON WORLD ORDER IS STRIKING

The announcement also included the content of President Lukashenko's letter. Lukashenko emphasized that BRICS has steadily strengthened multilateral interaction since its establishment, becoming not only a symbol but also one of the main pillars of multipolarity, stating, "Not only member states but also an increasing number of countries in the global majority are linking their hopes for a fair world order to this union. The spirit of mutual respect and equality, the attractiveness of its goals, is leading to the relentless logic of BRICS's expansion."

Lukashenko expressed his satisfaction that Belarus's partnership with BRICS will be formalized during Russia's presidency.

The ministry announced that in this way, Belarus confirmed its compliance with the necessary standards and criteria of BRICS and accepted to follow the guiding principles of the BRICS partner countries model.

BRICS LEADERS HAD GATHERED IN RUSSIA

Last month, a BRICS leaders' summit was held in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, which is part of the Russian Federation, with participation from heads of state, heads of government, and ministers from 32 countries, including Turkey.

After the summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that they had agreed on a roadmap for the expansion of BRICS, saying, "BRICS countries have agreed on a list of partner countries as the first stage of expansion."

Putin explained that invitations would be sent to the countries related to the union, stating, "Some countries that participated in today's and yesterday's events have conveyed their proposals and requests for full participation in BRICS's activities. Later, we will send our invitation and proposal to future partner countries in this capacity. When we receive a positive response regarding participation in our activities, we will announce who is on this list. It would not be right to announce it now without receiving a complete response."

BRICS HAS A SIGNIFICANT PLACE IN THE WORLD ECONOMY

Initially, the acronym "BRIC," which did not include South Africa, entered the literature in 2001 when British economist Jim O'Neill used it in an article highlighting the growth potential of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

The establishment of the union dates back to 2009, initiated by Russia as an informal platform to balance the global dominance of the US and Western countries. With South Africa being invited a year later, the union took on its current name, BRICS.

BRICS, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as founders, has expanded with the memberships of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.

This year, with the addition of 4 new countries, the total number of members has risen to 9, making BRICS significant in the world economy.