German government still reviewing Trump's peace board

2026-01-22 08:49:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

According to German Foreign Minister Johan Wadephul, the German government still has some questions regarding this body.

"We have a peace council, and that is the United Nations," the CDU politician said during a visit to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. At the same time, he acknowledged that the United Nations needs to be reformed and made more effective - just as Trump has repeatedly called for.

According to the minister, the German government still has some questions regarding this Peace Council. "These remain unanswered to this day. But we will discuss them in a constructive dialogue." Meanwhile, Germany demonstrates "every day through its practical actions that the UN system is our peacekeeping system, a system that deserves our full support."

Baerbock: UN resolution defines the mandate of the Gaza Peace Board

Wadephul's predecessor, Annalena Baerbock, expressed a similar view. The current president of the UN General Assembly told the German Press Agency that the UN Security Council had given the "Peace Council" a legally binding mandate under international law with a clearly defined task: The body should act on an interim basis in the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Islamist militant group Hamas, which sparked the war in the Palestinian territory with its major attack on Israel in October 2023, is classified as a terrorist organization by many states.

Baerbock rejects the idea of ??entrusting the "Peace Council" with global tasks, as Trump now intends. She argues that the United Nations already exists as an international organization, whose task and purpose is to maintain world peace and international security. According to the Green Party politician, all member states, regardless of their size, economic or military strength, have a place and a vote in the UN Charter, and this for "very good reasons."

"Standing for self-defense"

"If some states now try to apply the law of the strongest, this interregional alliance - despite all other differences - must be clearly and resolutely defended to defend itself and to protect the rules-based international order," Baerbock stressed.

According to the White House, Trump will make an announcement about the "Peace Council" this Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Media reports indicate that he will then sign the so-called charter, its rules of procedure. The draft has been sent to about 60 countries, including Russia and China.

France, Italy and Sweden refuse

International reactions to the initiative have been very mixed. Several countries, particularly in Western Europe, have declined, including France, Sweden and - according to a report in the Milanese newspaper "Corriere della Sera" - Italy. However, Kosovo has expressed its support. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also accepted Trump's invitation. Hungarian Prime Minister and Trump ally Viktor Orbán was one of the first to accept it. Later, countries such as Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Vietnam, Pakistan, Armenia and Belarus followed suit./ DW