section_path: Member states/Application and expansion process
section_name: Application and expansion process
paragraph_text: Application and expansion process
  
  While there is currently no formal application process to join BRICS, any hopeful government must receive the unanimous backing of all member states to receive an invitation. It was not until the early 2020s that discussions regarding allowing new states to join the club were widely held. Leaders and senior diplomats from the participating members began to discuss the prospect of adding additional members to the organization at that point.
  
  In August 2023, at the 15th BRICS summit, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates had been invited to join the organization on 1 January 2024.
  
  Pakistan applied for membership in November 2023; Russian Deputy Prime Minister supported Pakistan's request, however support for Pakistan among BRICS has not been unanimous.
  
  On 30 December 2023, the new government of Argentina, which formally applied for BRICS membership under Alberto Fernández 's government in 2022, officially declined the offer to join the bloc due to the new government's different foreign policy.
  
  On 1 January 2024, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Iran officially joined the bloc.
  
  Saudi Arabia has not responded to an invitation to join BRICS, and is still considering joining.
  
  On 2 September 2024, Turkey officially applied to join the bloc. At the same time, Turkey has been a NATO member since 18 February 1952 and is also a European Union candidate country. Turkey's EU membership process started on 3 October 2005 but was frozen on 13 March 2019. In September 2022, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that his country would apply for membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. On 11 July 2024, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated in a statement to the U.S. Newsweek magazine that they did not consider Turkey's membership in NATO as an alternative to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and BRICS.
  
  Algeria previously applied for membership in 2023, but later rejected it in September 2024, making Algeria the second country after Argentina to decline and stop its application.
  
  Following the 2024 BRICS summit, Brazil blocked Venezuela's application to the bloc, largely due to the disputed 2024 Venezuelan elections and the Venezuelan crisis. The country in response recalled its ambassador from Brazil.
  
  Since new members joined the acronym used has informally been BRICS+, that is, BRICS Plus.
  
  Indonesia was originally intended to be an observer partner state but instead opted for full membership, which went into effect in January 2025.