BRICS South Africa summit could be attended by French President Emmanuel Macron in August. Its foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, said on Tuesday that she had informed Pretoria of ”President Macron” intent and participation.
“I have informed my counterpart, Ms. Pandor of the president’s readiness and interest in continuing the dialogue that France is maintaining with the BRICS”, Catherine Colonna announced to the press at the end of his official visit to South Africa.
The decision to invite Mr Macron “must be made, not by France, but by the BRICS and first of all by South Africa, the host country of the summit”, the minister added. The day before, during a joint press conference with the head of the South African diplomatic mission, Naledi Pandor, Catherine Colonna had indicated that such an invitation must be “in full compliance with international law”, in relation to the presence of Vladimir Putin after the release of an ICC arrest warrant for “alleged responsibility for war crimes of illegal deportation of the population (children) and crimes of illegal population transfer (children) em), from the occupied regions of Ukraine to the Russian Federation” against the President of Russia.
The Russian president is the target of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes “deporting” Ukrainian children as part of Moscow’s offensive against Ukraine. This arrest warrant upsets Pretoria, which has been near the Kremlin since anti-apartheid times but is a member of the ICC and is expected to arrest Putin if he sets foot on its territory. .
Pretoria has refused to condemn Moscow since the start of the war in Ukraine, claiming to be neutral and wanting to promote dialogue, much to the dismay of many of its partners on the international stage. “President Macron’s participation, if it happens, will be the first of the practices adopted so far at the BRICS summits,” she said. Pandora responded on Monday.
“South African President Cyril Ramaphosa the host decides who will be invited” she added
The BRICS group consists of five countries: South Africa, Brazil, China, India and Russia.
