50,000 G7 protesters block capital ahead of Trump’s visit to French-Swiss border
GENEVA – President Trump will host UFC fighters at the White House on Sunday night but the real fight may be on the streets of Geneva, where 50,000 people are expected to fill the streets of Switzerland’s second largest city to protest the G7 summit.
Geneva is actually closed on Sunday. Businesses close and board their windows. A fence protecting the protestor has been erected in the streets. Police vans have taken their place on the corners, and police in riot gear are preparing.
Trump arrives at the G7 on Monday. He, like many world leaders, will arrive at Geneva airport before going to the meeting place in Evian, France.
Authorities in France and Switzerland closed 27 borders on Sunday to keep protesters away from the small town on the shores of Lake Geneva where Trump and other world leaders will stay.
Military helicopters fly over Lake Geneva, circling its famous Jet d’Eau, one of the tallest fountains in the world. Police boats patrolled the waters.
The protesters, who had to get permits for Sunday’s event, are a “No-G7” coalition of more than 60 organizations, unions and left-wing groups that criticize “fascism and imperialism”.
“The only good program is the sound program,” reads one of the signs that the groups put up in Geneva.
There are concerns that Sunday’s event could be a repeat of 2003 when violent protesters smashed windows and caused thousands of casualties on the sidelines of the G8, where Russia was a member of the group.
“We are very afraid of the policy and politics of Mr. Trump and the other G7 leaders, because they are fighting, they are making war everywhere,” Francoise Nyffeler, spokesperson for the NoG7 coalition, told the Associated Press.
“The planet is in danger and we are very afraid of it and we want to protest and say that the people of the world are against their policies,” he added.
Another demonstration has already taken place on Friday, when a flotilla of about 20 boats docked on the shores of Evian in Lake Geneva on Saturday, displaying anti-G7 and pro-Palestinian banners.
Given the determination of the groups and the number of world leaders who will be present in the area, members of the French and Swiss armed forces have been deployed to support the local police.
The G7 includes the leaders of the world’s leading economies—Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who is hosting the summit, has also invited several other leaders, including from India and several Middle Eastern countries.
The three-day meeting, which begins on Monday, is the first meeting of leaders since Trump launched the war on Iran.
The start has been postponed to allow Trump to celebrate his birthday on Sunday at the White House, where the UFC will play seven matches in the octagon built on the South Lawn.
