PRESS RELEASE
Greece Open to Becoming BRICS Member
July 1, 2015 (EIRNS)—Respecting the volatile environment around Greece, Deputy Defense Minister of Greece Costas Isychos said Greece has been invited to become a member of the BRICS bank.
"Greece has also been invited to become a BRICS member within the Development Bank of the BRICS. We are still open to that," said Isychos, who is also co-chair of the Russian-Greek Intergovernmental Committee. BRICS member Russia invited Greece to join the New Development Bank in mid-May. Isychos added that Greece has always favored good European-Russian relations and European-Eurasian relations. "So, we do have a multilateral foreign policy, both in the strict sense of foreign policy, but also in a broader sense of economic external policy,"
Isychos added.
Greece’s membership in the bank will be taken up at the July 8-9 BRICS summit in the Russian city of Ufa, according to Sputnik.
Reuters reports that Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that China wanted to see a united European Union and a strong euro. "So we hope that the relevant creditors can keep talking with Greece to try and reach agreement as soon as possible and appropriately resolve the crisis now faced," Hua told reporters at her regular press briefing. "From China’s point of view, we hope to see that the EU and Eurozone can appropriately resolve this issue and Greece can continue to remain in the Eurozone. This accords with the interests of all sides. China will continue to play a constructive role in this regard," Hua said.
