The State Duma chairman was commenting on Serbia's plans to join the group of emerging economies.

Countries in Europe are starting to realize that BRICS can ensure global multipolarity without blackmailing its members, unlike the US-led G7 or EU, State Duma Chair Vyacheslav Volodin has said.

The top Russian MP was commenting on Serbia's plans to explore the option of joining the group of emerging economies instead of the EU as announced by the country's deputy prime minister, Aleksandar Vulin, on Sunday.

Serbia applied to join the EU in 2009 and has been a candidate for membership since 2012. However, Brussels has been making increasingly stiff demands while offering no progress toward membership in return, according to Vulin. He explained that while Belgrade sees the EU as a partner, "we are not entirely sure that the EU sees us as a partner."

"Serbia intends to join BRICS. This option is being considered as an alternative to the European Union," Volodin wrote on his Telegram channel on Monday, adding that "more and more countries understand that BRICS guarantees a multipolar world."

Volodin pointed out that BRICS members and observers are not "blackmailed" or offered "absurd conditions for cooperation." Likewise, their "sovereign affairs" are not interfered with, unlike EU members, he added.

According to Volodin, the meddling policies of Washington and Brussels have led to the "opposite effect" than intended and have helped facilitate the rapid growth of the BRICS economies. The group has grown from an acronym into an informal alliance that has overtaken the G7 in terms of share of global GDP.

"The European Union is stagnating: in Germany, Austria, Finland, Estonia GDP is declining and industry is suffering significant losses," Volodin said.

With its current members, BRICS accounts for 45% of the world's population, he said, adding that the "time for the hegemony of Washington and Brussels is running out."

BRICS was originally founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining in 2011. This year, four more countries - Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates - officially became members. Saudi Arabia has also been invited to join the group and participates in BRICS meetings, but has not taken up full membership.

Russia will host the bloc's annual summit later this month. The members are slated to approve a new status within the group - that of a BRICS partner country.
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