Romania’s president receives invitation to first meeting of Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ but says participation depends on charter revisions.
BUCHAREST: Romanian President Nicusor Dan (pic) has received an invitation to attend the inaugural meeting of US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace”.
Dan stated on Sunday that Romania has not yet decided whether to participate in the Washington meeting scheduled for February 19.
He said the decision depends “on discussions with our US partners on the format of the meeting for countries like Romania, which are not currently members of the Board but which wish to be part of it on condition its charter is revised”.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also confirmed receiving an invitation on Saturday, stating he intends to attend.
Trump launched the initiative at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, with about 19 countries signing its founding charter.
Originally designed to oversee the Gaza truce and reconstruction, the board’s mandate has expanded, raising concerns it could rival the United Nations.
Permanent members are required to pay USD 1 billion to join the board.
Several countries, including Croatia, France, Italy, New Zealand and Norway, have already declined to join.
Others have stated they would only consider membership if the charter were changed.
The current charter names Trump as both chairman and the US representative.
It grants Trump “exclusive authority to create, modify or dissolve entities as necessary” as chairman.
He can only be replaced in case of “voluntary resignation or as a result of incapacity”.
