US mistakenly lists Belgium as participant in Trump's Board of Peace
On Thursday, the White House published a list of countries participating in US president Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" initiative, which included Belgium. However, Foreign minister Maxime Prévot quickly responded that Belgium's inclusion was an error. According to a government source, the United States had confused Belgium with Belarus.
Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Belgium were named in the list, which was published by several US media outlets shortly before the treaty establishing the so-called Board of Peace was signed.
Soon after, Belgian Foreign minister Maxime Prévot set the record straight on X. "Belgium has NOT signed the treaty of the Board of Peace. This announcement is incorrect. We wish for a common and coordinated European response. As many European countries, we have reservations to the proposal," he wrote.
The American news channel NBC later reported, based on an anonymous source, that Belgium had indeed signed the agreement but backed out at the last minute. However, Belgian government sources have formally denied this, claiming that the White House had simply confused Belgium with Belarus.
UN alternative?
President Trump initially presented the Board of Peace as a platform for the reconstruction of Gaza. But the charter shows that the initiative is intended to have a much broader mandate. In the text, countries are asked for the "courage" to move beyond "approaches and institutions that have too often failed," indirectly referring to established international organisations such as the United Nations.
Belgium was one of 21 out of 27 EU member states, along with the European Commission, that received an invitation to the board, one source told Belga. But it will not join under the current conditions, several sources say. Like many other European countries, Belgium has several practical and legal questions about the board’s leadership and scope.
Of the approximately 60 countries invited by the US, 26 have so far joined the initiative. Bulgaria and Hungary are the only EU member states to have signed the treaty.
PHOTO © Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP
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