South Africa Could Be The Bridge Between the EU and BRICS

Pretoria’s ability to manage relationships with key global players illustrates its potential to play a constructive role in advancing global cooperation between divergent groups of nations. As such, South Africa is uniquely positioned to serve as the bridge between an increasingly economically significant Brics alliance and the European Union.

Brics has proven that countries with different political systems and interests can work together. If the EU could apply the same pragmatic logic to its own relations with the Brics, this could be hugely beneficial to global security and economic development. As a result, South Africa should encourage its partners in the EU and Brics to mend their strained relations.

Despite its Brics membership, South Africa remains ideologically aligned with the European Union. Both South Africa and the EU believe in the importance of democracy and the role peace plays in fostering economic development. This is the foundation of South African foreign policy as well as the founding principle of the entire European project of post-war integration.

In addition to common values, South Africa maintains robust economic ties with several EU members. Germany is its third-largest trade partner and source of tourists, French firms are prominent in various sectors, and agreements on defence and climate with Portugal and Spain demonstrate South Africa's collaboration with states across the European Union.

At the same time, South Africa remains an important member of Brics, having advocated for expansion of the bloc under its chairmanship in 2023 while calling for the development of a more equitable multipolar world order. Despite being one of the smaller economies in Brics, South Africa punches well above its weight and remains a highly respected member.

Russia's support for the ANC during apartheid led to significant and on-going partnerships, and China's historical aid to the South African Communist Party helped forge strong ties. These long established relationships with fellow Brics members, combined with its Western partnerships, underscore South Africa’s potential as a bridge between East and West.

Among Brics members, South Africa stands out for its potential to mediate conflicts, owing to its non-aligned foreign policy and extensive mediation experience dating back to apartheid. For the EU, engaging with South Africa offers a strategic opportunity to influence Brics dynamics in line with its own values given South Africa's political system and longstanding EU relations.

While South Africa is no longer the sole voice in the bloc from Africa, it still has well established relationships with countries on both sides of perceived geopolitical divisions and its willingness to broach topics of global importance affords SA a unique standing among African nations.

Pretoria evidenced its diplomatic leadership on the global stage by taking Israel to the ICJ in an attempt to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza. This was a brave initiative considering the high volume of trade South Africa conducts with Israel’s allies and many expressed concern about South Africa’s involvement.     

However, various EU nations, such as Spain and Ireland, subsequently applied to join South Africa’s case, while France has come out in support of recognising a Palestinian state. That several prominent European countries have been willing to follow South Africa’s lead on this issue is a significant vote of confidence in South Africa’s global leadership credentials.

South Africa also demonstrated its mediation capabilities by participating in an African peace mission to Ukraine in June 2023, successfully proposing solutions to both Kyiv and Moscow, a feat no European interlocutor has been able to achieve. This was before India’s Modi or Trump made similar overtures towards both parties in efforts to help resolve the conflict.  

The EU, in contrast, has been particular reluctant to engage in diplomacy with Russia. But now that Russia and the United States are engaging in talks, perhaps Brussels will reconsider South Africa’s call for a diplomatic solution instead of prolonging the conflict with more sanctions and arms transfers.      

Europe is a net energy importer, so conflicts which disrupt global energy supplies, such as the War in Ukraine, and conflicts in the Middle East, are felt particularly acutely on the continent. The EU may struggle to reconcile demands for austerity, more social spending, and increased military expenditure in this context.

While Brics members such as China, Russia, India, and the UAE, spend billions courting Africa, the European Union appears to have become distracted by these internal dilemmas. This could make it difficult for the EU to lead on the global stage and over time, emerging markets could be drawn further into the orbit of the rising Brics powers.

Europe should remain alert to this risk. Aligning with Washington’s foreign policy objectives has been hailed as a sign of strength and unity, but in the long run it could prove costly. Trump’s re-election has already seen US support for Ukraine decline, with Washington applying tariffs on its European allies. As such, the European Union may benefit from retaining some bandwidth for other international partners.

The recent expansion of Brics to include major emerging markets such as Indonesia, as well as partner countries such as Malaysia and Vietnam, means maintaining healthy relations with the bloc would support Europe’s strategic autonomy at a time when the US has acted increasingly unilaterally with little regard for the interests of its European allies.

So while Brussels has largely aligned with Washington in confronting Brics states like Russia, China, and Iran, a foreign policy based on peaceful co-existence and diplomacy would better serve Europe’s long-term economic interests while boosting trade with South Africa.

That is why France supported Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran and Hungary has consistently called for dialogue with Russia.

Europeans know that peace is better for business and have already shown a willingness to engage in diplomacy with perceived adversaries. South Africa should encourage Europe to move further in this direction. The EU is South Africa’s biggest export market so if peace is good for Europe it is also good for South Africa.

The recent free trade agreement concluded between the United Kingdom and India is a positive development in this respect and hopefully the EU will make similar efforts to support trade with emerging markets in response to Trump’s disruptive trade policies.  

Considering how on-going conflicts have hurt Europe’s economy, the EU can only benefit from constructive dialogue and a peace-orientated foreign policy agenda. Pretoria can help facilitate this dialogue and help build a bridge between the EU and Brics.