ROME/BUDAPEST: Italy will not take part in US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace”, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Saturday, citing “insurmountable” constitutional issues.
Trump launched his “Board of Peace” at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January and some 19 countries have signed its founding charter.
But Italy’s constitution bars the country from joining an organisation led by a single foreign leader.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a Trump ally, last month noted “constitutional problems” with joining, but suggested Trump could perhaps reopen the framework “to meet the needs not only of Italy, but also of other European countries”.
Tajani appeared Saturday to rule that out.
“We cannot participate in the Board of Peace because there is a constitutional limit,” he told the ANSA news agency.
“This is insurmountable from a legal standpoint,” he said, the day after meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Vice President JD Vance at the Olympics
in Milan.
Although originally meant to oversee Gaza’s rebuilding, the board’s charter does not limit its role to the Palestinian territory and appears to want to rival the United Nations.
Key US allies, including France and Britain, have expressed doubts about joining.
Hungary PM to attend Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ inaugural meeting
Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Saturday that he will be going to Washington “in two weeks” to attend the first meeting of US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace”.
Although originally intended to oversee Gaza’s rebuilding, the board’s charter does not seem to limit its role to the Palestinian territory and appears to want to rival the United Nations.
One of the US leader’s closest allies in the European Union, the nationalist Orban attended the launch of the initiative last month in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.
“Two weeks from now we will meet again in Washington, because the Board of Peace, the peace body, will have an inaugural meeting,” he told a campaign event in the western town of
Szombathely.
Permanent members must pay $1 billion to join, leading to criticism that the board could become a “pay to play” version of the UN Security Council.
Orban -- currently the longest-serving national leader in the EU -- faces an unprecedented challenge at a general election slated for April 12.
Independent polls show the opposition led by Peter Magyar, an ex-government-insider-turned-critic, is ahead with a stagnating economy and growing discontent with public services, among key issues.
