Tens of thousands of protesters flooded the streets of Geneva on Sunday, turning the Swiss city into a battlefield of tear gas and defiance a day before the G7 summit kicks off in Evian, France.
By 4:30 pm, AFP journalists estimated the crowd at 15,000 — double the police's early count of 7,000. Waving Palestinian flags and banners reading “No to the G7 and all imperialist alliances!”, they marched from a lakeside park through a barricaded city bracing for trouble.
“I’m here because I’m not happy that this group of heads of state is meeting here to make decisions that affect all of us,” Michel, a 69-year-old Swiss retiree, told AFP.
The protest was organised by a “No-G7” coalition of about 200 associations, unions and left-wing groups “against fascism and imperialism”. They demanded an “internationalist response” to the policies of the Group of Seven leaders, who start their three-day meeting on Monday.
The G7 summit is one of the first major international gatherings since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran in late February. That conflict has upended the Middle East and widened transatlantic tensions.
Leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US will attend, plus invited guests from Brazil and India. French President Emmanuel Macron arrives in Evian on Sunday evening. US President Donald Trump and others land Monday.
Geneva — about 40 kilometres southwest of Evian — is on edge. Authorities fear a repeat of the 2003 anti-G7 riots that caused millions of dollars in damage. Shops, supermarkets and university buildings have boarded up their facades. The main hospital set up large tents for possible casualties.
Police said Sunday they had confiscated knives, axes, gas canisters and powerful pyrotechnic devices from protesters — items “likely to be used as weapons”.
AFP journalists saw several groups of black-clad, masked protesters, including one that broke through a barrier protecting an upscale area. Police in riot gear fired tear gas and rubber bullets as smoke bombs filled the air.
“We have a truck that will make bubbles for the children; we have drums,” said Laure, 38, a member of the “No to the G7” collective. She said many people stayed away because of “the fear created by authorities”, but insisted the “amplified messages of anxiety and angst” didn’t match reality.
At the back of the procession, a car carried a giant effigy of Donald Trump. Red paint — meant to look like blood — oozed from his eyes and mouth. In one hand, a black cocktail glass with “Cuba” scrawled on it.
The summit agenda includes explosive issues like ending the war in Iran, with Trump claiming an imminent deal but offering no details. Leaders will fly into Geneva Airport before heading to Evian.
For now, Geneva is a city holding its breath, hoping the violence of 2003 doesn’t repeat itself.