Europe is divided over U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace initiative in the framework of his Peace Plan for Gaza, especially over its extensive charter.
Several European countries, including France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Netherlans, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain, have all declined invitations to join the Board of Peace as members. They fear the Board would become an alternative to the United Nations for resolving conflicts.
The European Union itself has stated it is not looking to join the Board of Peace over concerns about its charter. European Union President Ursula von der Leyen received an invitation to the Board’s inaugural session on Thursday but she sent European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubrovsk Suica to the meeting but not as a member.
The Commission declined to say whether its presence at the board’s launch mounted to observer status for the EU but it stressed that taking part in the Thursday talks did not mean the bloc had become a member of the board, a spokesperson said.
More than 40 countries participated in the Washington meeting.
An EU spokesperson said that while questions remain about the charter, the EU would work with the US on “implementation of the peace plan for Gaza”.
While the EU has not joined the Board as a member, two member states of the bloc – Hungary and Bulgaria – have come on board. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is attending the meeting, is a close ally of Trump.
Kosovo and Albania have also joined as board members and will attend the meeting on Thursday.
Italy, Cyprus, Greece and Romania confirmed they would send representatives as “observers”. Romanian President Nicusor Dan, who also handles foreign policy, attended the Washington meeting in person.
According to Euronews citing several diplomats, during a meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels, critics emerged about Šuica’s participation which they said was not communicated to capitals beforehand, lacks the necessary mandate and risks being interpreted as a collective endorsement of the Board of Peace .
France especially said the European Commission had no mandate to represent member states at US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace in Washington.
EU Foreign Ministers, who are meeting on Monday in Brussels, will have the opportunity to discuss the matter directly with the Board of Peace High Representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov. Commissioner Suica will also be present at the gathering and is expected to report back from the Board of Peace inaugural session.
‘’There continues to be a number of questions about a number of elements in the Board of Peace charter related both to its scope to its governance and its its compatibility with the UN charter, said a senior official of the EU’s external service ahead of the meeting.
‘’We are ready to work with the US on implementation of the comprehensive peace plan for Gaza with the Board of Peace carrying out his mandate in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 2803. We are actively engaging with the with the UN with the United States on how we can jointly reach this objective,’’ he added.