Ignazio Cassis and Jean-Noël Barrot after their meeting in Geneva on Friday night.
Keystone-SDA
A bilateral Franco-Swiss working meeting was held in Geneva on Friday evening. Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis met his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot. Discussions included the organisation of the G7 summit in Evian next June.
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“The G7 in Evian, which will take place in a few weeks’ time, is a very important moment for the whole of Europe and the whole world,” Cassis told news agency Keystone-ATS after meeting with his French counterpart.
“We are proud that International Geneva can help to organise this kind of event perfectly and to ensure security. We are also proud to help our French neighbours with this event, which has a great deal of significance in a world that has been turned upside down, as we can see today,” the foreign minister added.
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Cassis acknowledged the fears that this event is generating in Switzerland, particularly in Geneva, as well as among the population. “There are expectations, on the part of the government too. That’s what we’ve been talking about this evening,” he said.
Avoiding excesses
Unlike what happened 23 years ago at the G8 summit in Evian, the aim is to organise an event without any excesses. “The wound of 2003 is still in our hearts. We will do three times as much as we did last time to prevent this from happening again,” said the minister, referring to anti-summit protests that caused significant damage in Geneva.
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On the French side, Barrot said he was aware of the apprehensions.
“It is for this reason that we have begun in-depth discussions well in advance, at all levels, to ensure that this G7 is a great diplomatic success, but also that it can take place in the best possible circumstances,” said Barrot, who expressed his gratitude for the assistance provided by the Swiss authorities in matters of security.
The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss many other aspects of bilateral cooperation, Barrot added. In particular, he welcomed the role that Switzerland is going to play in artificial intelligence by hosting the next world summit, as well as a summit of the European Political Community in 2027.
Translated from French with AI/gw
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