Italy likely to join Trump Board of Peace as observer: Meloni

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Italy will likely participate in President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” as an observer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Saturday.

The board is meeting in Washington on Feb. 19 and Italy was invited as an observer country, Meloni said in an interview with local media. “I believe an Italian and European presence is necessary, so I think we will respond positively to this invitation,” she said.

The board was a core element of Trump’s 20-point plan that helped broker a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas in October. Trump led the initial gathering of the group’s members –- about 20 nations including Belarus, Azerbaijan and Hungary — in Davos, Switzerland, in January, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

Meloni said last month that she wouldn’t immediately sign onto the board’s charter as a member, signaling that doing so would create legal risks. “Some elements are incompatible with our constitution,” she said.