What will the Peace Council actually do?
“Together we are in a position to end decades of suffering, stop generations of hatred and bloodshed, and create a beautiful, eternal and glorious peace for this region and for the entire world,” Trump said in a speech as he explained to world leaders what he wants the Peace Council to do.
The idea, which originated last year as part of US efforts to end the war in Gaza and was approved by a UN Security Council resolution, now has much bigger, more grandiose and more global ambitions.
According to leaked information from the draft charter, the president is the chairman of the council for life even after his term of office ends. According to this charter, he would have extensive powers: to invite or reject member states, to create or dissolve subsidiary bodies, and the mandate to appoint his successor whenever he decides to resign or if he is unable to perform his duties.
If any other country wanted to become a permanent member, the price would be a staggering one billion dollars.
Orbán: Trump is peace
Among the first to say “yes” to the new organization, “If Trump, then peace. Another letter has arrived. Hungarian efforts for peace are recognized,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wrote on his Facebook less than a week ago. “President Trump invited Hungary to join the work of the Peace Council as a founding member. Of course, we accepted this honorable invitation.”
It is not yet clear how the Peace Council will function, what it will actually solve, and finally not even who will join it. The list of countries that said yes to the project is roughly as follows – from Argentina, through Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mongolia to the founding United States.
Trump says Russia is also on board, although the message from Moscow is that they are still only “consulting partners”.
The Peace Council, with its broad mission and Trump as its longtime chairman, appeared to be an attempt to build an institution that would anchor the American dominance the president envisions, they say
Norway, Sweden and France have already declared that they have no intention of joining it. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said his country would say “no to the creation of an organization as has been proposed to replace the United Nations,” according to the Associated Press.
“Trust between the United States and its allies has been broken,” said R. Nicholas Burns, former US ambassador to NATO and China. “The administration’s overstepping of authority on Greenland and the miscalculation that they made really made Europe and Canada look different.”
Two weeks ago, Trump withdrew from 66 international organizations that his administration deemed “wasteful, ineffective and harmful.”
The question is whether Russia will also be a part of the new organization. President Vladimir Putin announced a few days ago that Moscow is willing to contribute $1 billion to the council to support the Palestinian people and rebuild the Gaza Strip. However, according to him, this would require the release of Russian assets held in the United States.
