The White House mistakenly included Belgium in the list of participating countries in the 'Council of Peace,' circulated among journalists. However, Belarus, which, unlike the former, agreed to join the organization, was not included in the list, writes DW.
The White House mistakenly included Belgium in the list of countries that agreed to join the 'Council of Peace' created by U.S. President Donald Trump. The country was likely confused with Belarus. This was reported on Thursday, January 22, by the American television channel NBC News.
According to them, the Trump administration circulated a list of 22 countries that were noted to have joined the 'Council of Peace.' In addition to Belgium and the United States, the list included Azerbaijan, Argentina, Armenia, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Hungary, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Kosovo, Morocco, Mongolia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Pakistan, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. Notably, Belarus was not on the list, whose leader Alexander Lukashenko signed the document to join the organization on January 20.
There is no publicly available official list of the participating countries in the 'Council of Peace' compiled by the White House. However, the list of states, which includes Belgium, was published on social media by Hiba Nasr, the head of the bureau of the Saudi channel Asharq News in Washington, on January 22. "To clarify: the list of countries was circulated by the White House," she specified.
Belgian Foreign Ministry: We Did Not Sign the Charter of the 'Council of Peace'
The situation was commented on by Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot. "Belgium did not sign the charter of the Council of Peace. The report on this is incorrect. We want Europe to present a unified and coordinated response. Like many European countries, we have some doubts about this proposal," he wrote on his page on social media X.
The White House confused Belgium with Belarus, including the former in the list of participating countries in the 'Council of Peace,' reported the Belgian public broadcaster VRT, citing sources in the country's government. However, according to NBC, Belgium did indeed sign the document for joining the organization but changed its decision at the last minute.
The country's authorities deny the information from the American television channel. "We have by no means expressed an intention to sign the document. We informed our American partners of the reasons why we cannot sign it in its current form," the press service of Prévot stated.
The 'Council of Peace' Created by Trump
The 'Council of Peace' was created to ensure a peace settlement plan in the Gaza Strip. However, observers who reviewed its charter note that the powers of this body may be much broader, potentially turning it into a competitor to the UN.
About 60 countries received invitations to join the 'Council of Peace.' Of these, more than 30 agreed, including Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, the UAE, and Turkey. EU countries, except for Bulgaria and Hungary, either refused (Norway, Slovenia, France, and Sweden) to participate in the organization or did not comment on the invitation. The United Kingdom also declined to sign the charter of the 'Council of Peace.' Representatives from 19 countries attended the signing ceremony during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
At the same time, the invitation to Canada to join the 'Council of Peace' was withdrawn by the U.S. president, who wrote a corresponding post addressing the country's Prime Minister Mark Carney on the social media platform Truth Social. This occurred after Carney's speech at the WEF, where he criticized the state of global politics, in which "great powers" use economic integration, tariffs, and other tools to coerce "middle powers."
