EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and foreign ministers from the 27-nation bloc are set to meet Monday with Nikolay Mladenov, the director of the Board of Peace, in Brussels. Mladenov, a former Bulgarian politician and UN diplomat, was chosen by US President Donald Trump to manage the board, which aims to secure and rebuild the Gaza Strip.
The meeting comes amid a divided European response to Trump's initiative. While Hungary and Bulgaria are full members of the board, and 12 other EU states sent observers to its inaugural meeting in Washington, key leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declined to join. Von der Leyen instead sent European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica as an observer, a move criticised by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot as breaching EU regulations.
The EU has deep ties to the region, serving as the top donor to the Palestinian Authority and playing a crucial oversight role at the Rafah border crossing. However, the question of cooperation with the Trump-led board has split national capitals, with some supportive of the UN's mandate in Gaza.
In addition to Gaza, the EU diplomats are expected to discuss the war in Ukraine and fresh sanctions on Russia. Trump's ambitions for the board include governing and rebuilding Gaza as a futuristic metropolis and challenging the UN Security Council's role, but progress has been limited amid the fragile ceasefire.
