Known in France for its water source, Évian is also a reference city when it comes to holding an international summit.
This Monday, June 15, the G7 summit opens during which the town of 9,000 inhabitants welcomes the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, France as well as the European Union to discuss crises and international cooperation.
Historic highs since 1938
Since 1938, the town of Haute-Savoie has become accustomed to hosting this type of event. That year, she received an international conference organized by the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and devoted to the situation of refugees, mainly Jewish, fleeing Nazi Germany and annexed Austria.
On March 18, 1962, the city gave its name to well-known negotiations: the Evian Accords. After tense discussions between France and the provisional government of the Algerian Republic (GPRA), the text marks the start of the ceasefire and, in the following months, the independence of Algeria.
The previous year, the mayor of Évian-les-Bains, Camille Blanc, had also been assassinated in an attack orchestrated by the OAS, the terrorist organization of the die-hards of French Algeria, for having accepted that negotiations be held in his commune.
A strategic location
The Evian meetings have also been held there every year since 1992. They bring together French and German business leaders with the aim of strengthening economic ties between the two neighboring countries. Finally, the city had already been chosen to host the G8 (former name of the G7 before Russia’s suspension in 2014) in June 2003.
If Évian-les-Bains was once again chosen to host the 2026 G7, it is in particular for its strategic location. Nestled between the mountains on the one hand, Lake Geneva and the Swiss border on the other, the city would be “easy to secure”, explains its mayor, Josiane Lei.
The Élysée also highlights its experience of “major international meetings”, as well as the “symbolic significance” of this choice. Évian is located opposite Switzerland, a neutral country and “capital of multilateralism” and peace, with the United Nations Office in Geneva. The Alpine territory will also be an opportunity to recall “the importance of issues linked to the environment”, assures the presidency.
The city’s capacity makes it possible to organize an event of this magnitude. The Evian Resort complex includes the 5-star Le Royal hotel in which the leaders and their delegations will stay. The immense park surrounding the building also makes it easier to secure the site.
Divergent voices
However, the choice of the Alpine spa town is not unanimous. Guy Parmelin, the President of the Swiss Confederation, expressed, in a leaked letter, “all the bad things” he thinks about the organization of the G7 in Évian-les-Bains.
The previous edition in the city had caused riots between anti-globalization demonstrators and the police and significant damage, particularly in Geneva and Lausanne. A fear which was confirmed on Sunday June 14 with excesses in Geneva during the “No-G7” demonstration.
