EU to take part in Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ but not as member

BRUSSELS: The European Union will take part in this week’s inaugural meeting of US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace”, but a spokesman insisted Monday that Brussels would not be joining as a member.

The European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica, will head to Washington to represent the EU at the meeting Thursday.

“She will participate in the meeting of the Board of Peace for the specific part dedicated to Gaza. Let me stress that the European Commission, it’s not becoming a member to the Board of Peace,” EU spokesman Guillaume Mercier said.

He added the EU executive was participating as part of its “long-standing commitment” to the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire and “to support the reconstruction and the post-recovery in Gaza”, he added.

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The Board of Peace, of which Trump is the chairman, was initially designed to oversee the Gaza truce and reconstruction after the war between Hamas and Israel.

But its purpose has since morphed into resolving all sorts of international conflicts, triggering fears the US president wants to create a rival to the UN.

Some EU member states have raised concerns about the board.

“We still have a number of questions regarding several elements in the Board of Peace: one concerning its scope, two concerning its governance, and three, its compatibility with the UN Charter,” EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni said.