MOSCOW, September 7. /TASS/: The G20 member-countries have agreed to grant the status of a permanent member to the African Union, the Bloomberg news agency quotes sources as saying.
This decision is expected to be announced on September 9-10 during the G20 summit in India.
The AU will have the same status as the European Union, the agency says. This decision stems from the wish to give the AU members a greater say on global issues.
On June 18, Times of India, citing official sources, reported that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had suggested making the AU a permanent member of the association at the upcoming G20 summit in September.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on July 27 that Moscow expected the African Union to become a full member of the G20 as early as this September. He stressed that Russia considered the AU "as a leading regional organization that forms a modern security structure on the continent and creates conditions for ensuring Africa's worthy place in the system of global economic ties."
