France leaves Switzerland with CHF30 million G7 security bill after failed cost-sharing talks
Three weeks after the G7 summit in Évian, negotiations have collapsed: France will not help pay the CHF30 million Swiss security bill for protests that spilled into Geneva.
Three weeks after the G7 summit convened in Évian, Switzerland is left holding a security bill of CHF30 million that France refuses to pay. The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA) told Swiss public broadcaster SRF that negotiations on cost-sharing have failed, despite a personal appeal from Swiss president Guy Parmelin to French president Emmanuel Macron.
Protests spill across the lake
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Geneva in mid-June after French authorities banned protests in the border region near the summit venue. The rally in Geneva turned violent, with windows smashed, fires set, and one Tesla burned. Police used water cannons and rubber bullets, and dozens of injuries and arrests were reported. The unrest echoed the 2003 G8 summit in Évian, when Geneva also saw massive riots resulting in millions of francs in property damage and looting.
Swiss deployment and the bill
To prevent a repeat of 2003, Switzerland mobilized 4000 army personnel, deployed police officers from numerous cantons, and tightened border controls. Geneva security director Carole-Anne Kast put the total security cost at CHF30 million in an interview with the business newspaper L'Agefi. A portion of that sum will be paid by the Swiss federal government, but the canton of Geneva is pressing Bern to keep pushing France for a contribution.
Failed negotiations
Parmelin had demanded money from France before the summit, telling SRF's Samstagsrundschau that solutions on costs and security were important. The EDA now reports those negotiations went nowhere.
On the issue of security costs, Switzerland and France could not agree on France's cost sharing.
Talks are reportedly continuing, but the EDA sees little chance of success.
However, the prospect of France contributing to the security costs is slim.
Letter to Macron
Parmelin conveyed Switzerland's criticism to Macron in a letter, French media reported, yet the bill remains unpaid. As a small consolation, the Swiss president did receive an invitation from France to attend the G7 summit dinner.
