Speaking to Euronews at Davos on Tuesday, Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Prévot accused United States President Donald Trump of seeking to “replace the United Nations’ system” with his transitional “Board of Peace”, a body ostensibly set up to administer post-war Gaza.
While it remains unclear exactly how many leaders have been asked to join the body, Prévot told Euronews that Belgium has not been invited, decrying the project as “totally unacceptable” and adding that Trump was trying to “create his own personal board”.
Trump began inviting world leaders to join the Board of Peace on 16 January in exchange for a $1 billion fee, stating that the body aimed to foster “a bold new approach to resolving global conflict”.
The newly assertive positioning of the Board of Peace has sparked major speculation around whether the body could become a rival to the UN Security Council, which was created in the wake of World War II.
‘Not the way Belgium intends to go’
Acknowledging the UN’s shortcomings, Prévot stressed the importance of reforming it from the inside, pointing to the UN80 initiative, which “already aims to merge certain agencies to create new opportunities for the UN to increase its efficiency”.
Prévot also pointed to the possibility of “creating new opportunities” within the UN’s Security Council for African, Latin American, and Asian countries.
“Defending international law is crucial for a medium-sized country like Belgium,” he stated, adding that “creating something new in order to bypass the United Nations is certainly not the way Belgium intends to go”.
The US is expected to share details about the Board of Peace’s membership list in the coming days, with speculation abounding around whether the announcement will occur during the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, underway in Davos until 23 January.
Trump’s Board of Peace plans have further inflamed tensions between the US and its European partners, which are already running high due to Trump stepping up his threats to seize Greenland in recent days and refusing to rule out the use of military force.
On Monday, a French official close to President Emmanuel Macron said that despite receiving an invitation, France did not plan to join the Board of Peace “at this stage”. The official stressed that plans for such a body raised questions around respect for the principles and structure of the United Nations.
In response to the news on Monday that Macron was unlikely to sign France up, Trump told reporters: “Nobody wants him because he’s going to be out of office very soon”.
“I’ll put a 200% tariff on his wines and champagnes, and he’ll join,” he said, “but he doesn’t have to join.”
Europe needs to strengthen its autonomy
Prévot told Euronews that Europe should prioritise strengthening its strategic autonomy, specifically in the military, technology and energy sectors.
“We can no longer depend blindly on the security provided by the US”, he said, warning that “otherwise this could lead to a weakened Europe.”
He highlighted that Belgium has been working to fix its reputation as a “bad pupil in the classroom” after consistently failing to meet NATO spending targets.
“We achieved the 2% GDP target last year, and we will continue to increase our spending for the defence sector,” Prévot said.