Riots before the G7 summit. The police had to use gas against the demonstrators

Ashley Davis3 days ago

0 33 3 minutes read

Demonstrators participating in the No-G7 coalition protested under anti-capitalist, pro-Palestinian, feminist, pro-Kurdish and ecological slogans. The march, numbering – as estimated by the AFP agency – several thousand people, was closed by a car with a giant caricature of Donald Trump.

AFP journalists saw a burning Tesla near the procession and firefighters trying to put out the fire.

The No-G7 coalition, which brings together around 200 associations, organizations and trade unions, called for an “internationalist response” to the policies promoted by the G7 and condemned “fascism and imperialism”.

The G7 summit is scheduled to last from Monday to Wednesday. The leaders of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and France, as well as the European Union, will be present. French authorities banned demonstrations during the summit. Geneva is the closest airport to Evian (the two cities are approximately 45 km apart), through which most delegations arrive.

Residents are afraid of a repeat of 2003.

The Swiss authorities, who authorized the march in Geneva, deployed a significant police force to prevent a repeat of the 2003 fiasco, AFP stressed. During the G8 summit, also held in the French spa town, groups of demonstrators rioted, looted and clashed with police in Geneva and Lausanne. In a sign of the ongoing trauma in Geneva, many shopkeepers this week also barricaded their windows with boards in neighborhoods away from the march route. Numerous events and sports competitions were canceled, and the University Hospital of Geneva prepared for the influx of injured people, including setting up tents in front of the entrance to the facility.

— I understand the fear caused by the authorities, but the real threat are the G7 participants who will be there [obradować] in Evian, one of the participants told AFP. However, Geneva police said in a statement on Sunday that they had confiscated potentially dangerous items such as pyrotechnics, bocce balls, batons and axes.

Demonstrators threw stones at the UN telecommunications tower and threw flares at the police trying to move them away from the building.

In France, no demonstrations

French opponents of the summit canceled a demonstration that was to be organized on the French side of the border due to strict rules imposed by local authorities, the agency said. Switzerland mobilized 4,000. soldiers to support the police forces. France notified the deployment of nearly 16,000. policemen, gendarmes, soldiers, firefighters and border guards. Strengthened border controls and the closure of 25 of 35 crossings between France and Switzerland were also announced.

In addition to the leaders of the seven countries of the group, the leaders of Brazil, India, Kenya and South Korea will be present at the summit. The leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will join the deliberations on Tuesday.

The French side emphasizes that the G7 countries will try to work out answers to common global challenges at the summit. Paris wants its presidency to be an opportunity to bring closer positions and take concrete actions. Seeing the need for broader cooperation, not only within the G7, France invited Brazil, Egypt, India, Kenya and South Korea to the summit. At the same time, the summit is to be an opportunity to discuss current crises, i.e. wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected in Evian on Tuesday.

1 / 14 Protest in Geneva against the G7

PAP/EPA/CYRIL ZINGARO

2 / 14 Protest in Geneva against the G7