Merz and Meloni to Trump: We’d like to join your Board of Peace, but we can’t – POLITICO

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday insisted they would have been ready to join U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” but were prevented by constitutional barriers.

Their rejection of Trump’s controversial Board of Peace — an integral part of his plan for post-conflict governance in Gaza — appeared to be a strategic way of not offending the U.S. president. Meloni and Merz are considered two of Trump’s closest allies in the EU and are at the forefront of trying to defuse transatlantic tensions.

Within the EU, only Hungary and Bulgaria signed up to Trump’s initiative, with many countries worried by the invitations issued to dictatorships such as Russia and Belarus.