OPINION: Living in BRICS Is Comparable to Living in Iran, Russia, Ethiopia

There have been humorous historical episodes where some of the smaller Balkan countries felt that the moment had come for them to join the big world game because it would demonstrate their claim that they were at the heart of the global agenda rather than on its periphery. When Russia and Japan went to war over Manchuria and Korea in 1904, the little Montenegrin kingdom of Nikola Petrović did not think twice and promptly declared war on the Japanese Empire. Even though the Russia-Japan conflict only lasted a year and a half, they knew enough about it to formally end the war after more than 100 years.

It was equally bizarre when, amid the bombing in 1999, Milošević and his wife thought that the entry of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia into an alliance with Russia and Belarus would reverse the tragic fate since great Russia would then enter into a war with NATO. And defeat it, of course, which would mark the dawn of a new world and Serbia among its leaders.

There is now a proposal for Serbia to join BRICS - a bizarre, nonsensical, and humorous proposition if it were not dirty, malicious and dangerous. It even entered the parliamentary procedure, not as a thought-out foreign policy decision, but a hastily drafted paper comprised of phrases from press headlines in Serbia.

The principal issue regarding this proposal and the preceding suggestion to join BRICS is actually the same issue that King Nikola had in 1904 and Slobodan Milošević and Mira Marković a hundred years later. It starts with the premise that there could be a quick fix or a world shift to cure every issue, and then “our time would come.” Even an insignificant portion of the spoils that fall off the large table is anticipated with little effort and bound to the big powers and their interests.

BRICS has existed for 14 years. It was formalized at the summit in Russia (even though then it had one less letter in its name). In the same year (2009), the European Union abolished visas for Serbian citizens, and since then, they travel, study and work in Europe almost without restrictions.

For 14 years, no one was particularly interested in what BRICS is, what it does, what its goals are, and who meets there. That is how it should be because Serbia's interests do not intersect with those of BRICS or any of its members specifically.

Serbia has, for a long time, participated in another project, in which it also has its own interests: a better economy, a higher standard of living, and an orderly democracy. This is a project within the framework of which Serbia earned visa-free travel 14 years ago when BRICS was being founded.

Given that we shared nothing from the start and moved further away and closer to the European Union in the previous years, where did the idea of turning towards BRICS come from?

One factor is Serbia's megalomania, meaning that it should be a part of any global change because, for the love of God, it would not be possible without Serbia. Our customary indifference to learning more about what BRICS is, if it functions at all, whether it has accomplished anything, and what the aims of the nations it is composed of are is much more severe than this folklore motif.

If things were any different, those pushing for Serbia's membership in this alliance would be aware that, even after 14 years, BRICS has not accomplished anything its founders had hoped for. Despite considering it their primary objective from the first summit in Yekaterinburg to the final, 15th consecutive meeting in Johannesburg, they did not eliminate the dollar from international trade. Today, between 80 and 90 percent of global business is settled in dollars, with just around 5 percent in Chinese yuan. Countries keep 60 percent of the world's foreign exchange reserves in dollars.

They established the bank eight years ago, probably in an effort to compete with the current inefficient and unfair system of foreign funding. The BRICS bank has invested around $30 billion throughout those eight years, as much as the World Bank in four months.

What is the problem then? How has this great idea not moved from the initial romantic idea of creating a new, just world in 14 years? Perhaps the countries that lead it, above all Russia and China, are profoundly unfree, manipulative, and evil, first for their own people and then for everyone around them.

What human value has BRICS been advancing, with China serving as the unofficial leader? Total state and party control of everything  –  from walking down the street to running a business and leaving the country. Are these the ideals Russia promotes while it engages in violent attacks and crimes against sovereign governments, commits massive war crimes, detains opponents at home, and occasionally carries out assassinations?

Some new BRICS members, like Iran, which has executed around 500 political opponents in the past year, more than twice its previous record, fully align with these principles. Or Saudi Arabia, with its deeply entrenched gender segregation modeled after the Middle Ages?

Everyone who wants Serbia to join BRICS needs to provide answers to these questions. Do you want to make Serbia one of its dictatorial members and adopt their way of life? If so, it is also a respectable adult political decision. But such a choice comes with consequences.

The departure of companies and technologies that Serbia had worked hard to integrate into, trading practically all of its output with the EU. Let them start fresh supply chains and joint ventures with new BRICS members like Iran and Ethiopia. Or consider Russia, which is now isolated and extremely poor as no country in history after being expelled from the global payment system.

It is impossible to make a proposal with a valid explanation of why BRICS is a better option for Serbia than the European Union. Both are impossible. Creating a new, just, honest, and peaceful world alongside China, Russia, Iran, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia is a poor slogan of hardened dictatorships that do not want to change. After all, let's ask their people how they live. And why are they migrating in great numbers to the West rather than supporting BRICS objectives?