The second BRICS–Europe symposium, held this week in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, delivered a message that is increasingly difficult to ignore: the global political and economic center of gravity is moving eastward, and Europe-whether willingly or through internal fissures-is being drawn into the gravitational pull of a rising Eurasian axis. What began as a modest platform for dialogue between BRICS nations and select European representatives has evolved into a forum symbolizing the widening cracks in Western political unity, as well as the growing appeal of a multipolar global framework.

Hosted by Russia’s ruling United Russia party and the international movement “The Other Ukraine,” in partnership with the Institute of Europe at the Russian Academy of Sciences, the two-day gathering on November 14–15 brought together more than 40 European politicians. Among them were sitting members of the European Parliament, representatives from national legislatures, and various political figures who defy the mainstream stance of Brussels on global realignment. Delegations from major BRICS members and partner states-including China, Brazil, Iran, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Belarus, Algeria, Cuba, South Africa, and Cambodia-also attended the symposium, underscoring its increasingly global reach.

What makes the Sochi meeting significant is not simply the presence of European participants, but the profile of those who chose to attend-and the reactions their attendance sparked back home. Steffen Kotre, a German Bundestag deputy from the Alternative for Germany (AfD), faced criticism from opponents and media outlets who argued that participating in a Russian-hosted forum was incompatible with........

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