Outgoing Bulgarian Prime Minister Rozen Zhelyazkov acted on the directive of Delyan Peevski, who is under US and British sanctions for corruption, and introduced Bulgaria into US President Donald Trump's initiative called the Peace Committee.
Trump announced the formation of the Peace Council today in Davos, during the World Economic Forum, which was originally intended to oversee peace implementation and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip, but has expanded into an initiative that some European countries believe could undermine the United Nations.
According to EUalajv, earlier this week, information emerged that an invitation to participate in the Peace Committee had been sent to Bulgarian President Rumen Radev. However, Radev then announced that he was resigning to devote himself to party political activities.
Political pressure for Bulgaria to join Trump's initiative came from Deljan Peevski, leader of the DPS (Movement for Rights and Freedoms) – New Beginning party.
"I call on President Radev to immediately forward this to the National Assembly for a vote, and then to the Council of Ministers, so that the next steps can be taken for the country's accession to the Peace Committee," Peevski said in an official statement.
This Bulgarian politician, who was labeled an oligarch by the Joseph Biden administration, is making every effort to have his name removed from the US Magnitsky Act sanctions list.
"As a political leader, I insist that our country does not miss the opportunity to be part of building a new, more just and stable world order," Peevski emphasized.
Rosen Zhelyazhkov, writes EUlive, promptly implemented this instruction, even though Trump's invitation was addressed to the presidency.
Bulgaria cannot expect any immediate benefits from joining this body, as its participation blatantly disregards efforts to demonstrate the unity of the European Union.
Symbolically, during the Davos event, Zhelezkov sat next to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who refused to support Denmark on Greenland and has long sought to block European aid to Ukraine, the portal adds.
In addition to Hungary, Bulgaria, and Kosovo, Albania also received and accepted an invitation from the region to join Trump's Peace Council.
Slovenia has decided not to join the committee for now, and Croatia has not yet responded definitively.
The countries represented on the Davos stage were mostly from the Middle East and South America, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina and Paraguay. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko did not attend the signing ceremony in Davos, but signed the relevant document in Minsk on January 20, ahead of the official presentation of the charter, EUalive writes.
The AP reported that among those who signed the accession documents for the Peace Committee were Argentine President Javier Miele and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, as well as Azerbaijani leaders Ilham Aliyev, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani.
Heads of government or state included Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, conservative Paraguayan President Santiago Peña, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, as well as ministers and diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Turkey and Morocco.
About 35 countries have agreed to join the project, a senior US official told reporters, while 60 countries have been invited to join.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was invited to join, said his country was still consulting with Moscow's strategic partners before making a decision.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC today that the UK would skip the ceremony.
Norway and Sweden said they would not participate, as did France, which stressed its support for the Gaza peace plan but expressed concern that the committee could try to replace the United Nations as the main venue for resolving the conflict.
Montenegro has not received an invitation from the United States to join the Peace Committee, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told "Vijesti" yesterday.
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