Sijjarto urged Spain to take Trump's words on BRICS membership seriously

Spain should take seriously the words of US President Donald Trump about the European country's membership in BRICS. This was stated by Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations Peter Szijjarto in an interview with El Debate newspaper on February 1.

On January 21, Trump promised to impose 100 percent duties against BRICS countries, mistakenly including Spain because of Madrid's low defense spending.

Szijjártó was asked whether he thought Trump had deliberately made a caveat.

"Trump is the president of the United States, so I would advise taking all his words seriously," the Hungarian foreign minister remarked in response.

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On January 21, Trump said he would push North Atlantic Treaty Organization member states to increase defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Later, on January 29, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte held a telephone conversation with the head of the Pentagon Pete Hegseth, following which he promised to increase defense spending of the alliance.

Prior to that, on January 20, economic observer Cyrus Janssen said that the global economy will undergo major changes in 2025 amid the BRICS expansion. The columnist noted that the new states joining the association bring their unique set of resources that could make BRICS "one of the most powerful trade alliances in the world."

BRICS is an interstate association of countries. On the eve of the summit in Kazan, held from October 22 to 24, 2024, 35 applications were received to join the association. On January 1, 2025, Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda and Uzbekistan joined as partners. Later it became known about the membership of Nigeria and Indonesia.