Italy will not take part in US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace," Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Saturday, citing constitutional obstacles that he described as insurmountable, according to the AFP news agency.
Trump launched the Board of Peace at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, and 19 countries have since signed its founding charter. The initiative was originally presented as a body meant to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza, but its charter does not limit its mandate to that territory and appears intended to rival the United Nations.
Italy says its constitution prevents participation in an organization led by a single foreign leader.
“We cannot participate in the Board of Peace because there is a constitutional limit," Tajani told the ANSA news agency on Saturday. “This is insurmountable from a legal standpoint."
The comments came a day after Tajani met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Vice President JD Vance at the Olympics in Milan.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said last month that the current statute of the Board of Peace is incompatible with Italy’s constitution. Still, she argued that Italy should not dismiss the initiative outright.
“The decision to exclude oneself a priori is wrong," Meloni said at the time. “Italy's position is one of openness and interest in the initiative, and I believe Italy can play a leading role in stabilizing the Middle East."
European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas previously indicated that European leaders would be willing to work with the Board of Peace, if its focus is narrowed down to Gaza.
"We want to work for peace in the Middle East, and we want this board of peace to be limited to the UN Security Council resolution as it was foreseen," Kallas said.
"So if we narrow it down to Gaza like it was meant to be, then we can work with it," she added.