Washington, A number of world leaders have received invitations to attend the inaugural meeting of the “Peace Council,” formed by U.S. President Donald Trump and scheduled to be held on February 19.
While some countries have agreed to attend—such as Argentina under President Javier Milei and Hungary led by Viktor Orbán—others have declined, including France, Italy, Norway, the Czech Republic, and Croatia.
Romanian President Nicușor Dan announced on Facebook on Sunday that he had received an invitation to the meeting, adding that his country has not yet made a final decision on participating in the first session of the “Peace Council.” He explained that the decision depends on “discussions with our American partners regarding the format of the meeting for countries like Romania, which are not actually members of the council but would like to join it, provided its charter is reviewed.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Saturday that he had received an invitation to the meeting and intends to participate.
By contrast, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš announced on Saturday that he does not plan to join the “Peace Council,” telling the private TV network TV Nova: “We will act in consultation with other European Union member states. Some of them have said they will not join the council.”
Under President Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza, the “National Committee for the Administration of Gaza” would temporarily manage the Palestinian territory under the leadership of the “Peace Council,” chaired by Trump.
However, the council’s charter does not explicitly mention Gaza, instead granting it a broader objective of contributing to the resolution of armed conflicts around the world.
Its preamble implicitly criticizes the United Nations by emphasizing that the “Peace Council” must have “the courage to abandon approaches and institutions that have often failed.”
This has angered several leaders, most notably French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who earlier in the week called for strengthening the United Nations in response to the U.S. president’s initiative.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani reiterated that Italy will not join the “Peace Council” due to constitutional obstacles “that cannot be overcome.” Speaking to the Italian news agency ANSA on Saturday, Tajani said, “We cannot participate in the Peace Council because of constitutional constraints,” noting that Italy’s constitution does not allow joining an organization led by a single leader.
On Friday, Brazilian President Lula accused his 79-year-old U.S. counterpart of wanting to install himself as the “master” of a “new United Nations.” Lula defended multilateralism in the face of advancing “unilateralism,” expressing regret that “the UN Charter is being torn apart.”
Donald Trump announced the creation of the “Peace Council” at the Davos Forum in Switzerland in January.
According to its charter, the Republican president holds sweeping authority: he alone is empowered to invite other leaders and can revoke their participation, unless a “two-thirds majority of member states exercises a veto.”
Other provisions have also sparked discontent among leaders, including the fact that the text does not explicitly mention Gaza and the steep membership fees. Countries seeking a permanent seat on the “Peace Council” would be required to pay a fee of $1 billion.
(AFP)
