France for UN reform to enhance global representation: FM

France “stands up for a reform of the UN” to allow countries from all over the world to be better represented, the French foreign minister said Friday.

The meetings held in Russia’s Kazan by BRICS member states were “a call for a surge of the international community,” Jean-Noel Barrot told Franceinfo.

He described the Kazan meetings as a “shift or a division” of the international community in “the West” and the “big emerging powers.”

“I observed that many countries went to Kazan at the invitation of BRICS and (Russian President) Vladimir Putin. This tells us that many countries consider today that protection from the UN, and international community is not enough, and (that) it is better to get under the protection of big countries such as Russia and China. This is a call for a surge,” the minister noted.

He also stressed: “France and the president (Emmanuel Macron) stand up today for a reform of the UN to allow Brazil and India, but also other countries such as Japan, Germany and from Africa to be better represented at the Security Council so that the UN decisions are more legitimate."

The BRICS summit included the longtime members of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa -- the source of the group’s name -- along with recent additions Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the summit as a guest.

The BRICS organizing committee said 36 countries attended the meeting, with 22 of them represented by heads of state, including Erdogan.

The summit was attended by leaders from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, as well as representatives of several international organizations.