French police officers check cars crossing the border between Geneva and the French town of Gaillard, France, Wednesday, ahead of the upcoming G7 summit due to take place Jun. 15-17 in the town of Evian-les-Bains. AP-Yonhap
GENEVA — France plays host to a Group of Seven summit next week but it is shopkeepers in neighbouring Switzerland who have already boarded up many businesses ahead of an anti-G7 protest expected to roll through Geneva this weekend.
Security officials in Geneva outlined their plans on Thursday in preparation for around 50,000 people expected for the protest on Sunday in Geneva. The plans include the closure and control of 27 border crossings between France and Switzerland from Friday evening, officials said.
G7 leaders will land in the city - on the western French-speaking side of Switzerland - before being transported across the border to the summit venue in the French town of Evian-les-Bains. Switzerland is mobilising 4,000 soldiers inside its territory to ensure security during the three-day meeting of the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, alongside the European Union, the army said last week. France said it was deploying 8,000 police officers for the summit in Evian beginning on Monday.
