From June 15 to 17, the French resort of Evian-les-Bains is hosting the G7 summit, bringing together the leaders of the seven most developed economies in the world - the United States, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan. The meeting was originally scheduled to begin on June 14 and end on June 16, but was moved up by one day due to the birthday of US President Donald Trump, who turns 80 on June 14 and wants to celebrate this anniversary appropriately at the White House, French media outlets, including "France 24", Agence France-Presse and BFM TV, BTA reports.
Evian-les-Bains, whose name in French means "Evian Mineral Baths", is hosting this year's G7 summit because France has been the rotating chairman of the G7 since January 1 of this year. It took over the rotating chairmanship of the G7 from Canada. This is France's eighth rotating chairmanship of the G7 since the G7 was established. So far, France has hosted seven summits of the world's most developed economies - in Rambouillet in 1975, in Versailles in 1982, in the Défense district of Paris in 1989, in Lyon in 1996, in Evian in 2003, in Deauville in 2011 and in Biarritz in 2019.
The resort of Evian-les-Bains is a popular spa resort with mineral baths on the shores of Lake Geneva, called Lac Léman by the French. Over the past two centuries, notables have stayed there, including British kings Edward VII and George V and Egyptian King Farouk, as well as celebrities such as French writer Marcel Proust or Countess Anne de Noailles, who was a French writer of Romanian, Greek and Bulgarian descent.
Evian-les-Bains is also known for its bottled mineral water.
In the 20th century, before World War II, a conference dedicated to Jewish refugees was held in this resort. On March 18, 1962, the agreements that ended the Algerian War and recognized the independence of Algeria were signed in Evian.
The G7 summit will be held at the five-star “Hotel Royal“ in Evian-les-Bains. This is one of the most beautiful hotels in Europe. It was opened in 1909 and was named in honor of the English King Edward VII. Its interior, gardens and the park around it were designed to meet the expectations of kings, emperors, sultans, maharajas, some of whom even had their own apartments in the hotel complex, such as Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Aga Khan III, the hotel's official website says. Over the years, the hotel complex has also become a favorite vacation destination for celebrities, such as actress Rita Hayward, “Beatles“ drummer Ringo Starr, writers Marcel Proust and Patrick Modiano.
Hotel guests can stay in apartments, the area of which varies from 207 square meters to 58 square meters depending on the price. The largest is the Royal Suite, which has two luxurious bedrooms, two marble bathrooms, a living room with its own bar and terraces of 60 square meters. The hotel rooms range in size from 27 square meters to 47 square meters. The hotel's 150 rooms and suites underwent a major renovation in 2015. The prices for overnight stays in them range from 535 euros to 1,705 euros per night, according to a report on the hotel complex's website for the period June 20-July 4, 2026.
The hotel has three bars, three restaurants, one of which has a “Michelin” star, a modern spa center and many other amenities that will make you feel like a true monarch. The hotel complex's park covers an area of 47 acres and has ancient trees, a protected bird area and beehives. The hotel also has a huge fruit and vegetable garden, the produce of which is used in the kitchens of the hotel's restaurants.
The hotel complex also has a specially designated mini-resort for children aged 4 months to 17 years, offering a variety of entertainment for minors. The area of this "Royal Children's Resort" within the hotel complex is 1,000 square meters.
In these royal conditions, for three days, the leaders of the G7 will seek solutions to important global issues, smooth out their differences and discuss opportunities for future cooperation. Leaders of countries that are not part of the G7 have also been invited to the summit.
For the summit forum in Evian-les-Bains, nearly 16,000 police, gendarmes, soldiers, firefighters and border guards have been mobilized in the resort with ships, motorcycles, drones. There will also be horse-mounted security teams and teams with dogs trained to detect explosive devices, explained the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Savoie, in which the resort is located. The head of the prefecture, Emmanuelle Dubé, recalled that the international situation is extremely tense and that this also entails the corresponding risks. In addition, the risk of a terrorist attack in France remains high. There are also risks of sabotage, cyberattacks or public order violations.
A total of 300 soldiers from the French air force and space forces alone will guarantee the security of the guests at the summit under the leadership of French General Marc Le Bouy. Aircraft, radar systems, surface-to-air defense systems and anti-drone systems have been mobilized, all of which are deployed both in France and in neighboring Switzerland.
The summit in Evian-les-Bains does not actually concern only French territory, as the fact that the resort is on the shores of Lake Geneva suggests. The delegations of the participants in the summit will actually arrive at Geneva International Airport, which is on Swiss territory. They will shuttle between the airport and the department of Haute-Savoie, but also to the Swiss cantons of Vaud and Valais. That is why so-called “summit protection zones“ have been set up in all these areas.
Switzerland, for its part, has deployed around 4,000 soldiers to assist French security forces in securing the summit forum.
All of this has one goal - to avoid a repeat of the fiasco of the G8 (G7 plus Russia) summit in Evian-les-Bains in 2003, notes Agence France-Presse. At that time, tens of thousands of anti-globalization protesters gathered in the resort area. Some of them showed violence, escalating into looting of commercial establishments and acts of vandalism in Geneva and Lausanne in Switzerland. The damage from the pogroms was estimated at between 5 and 6 million Swiss francs. This traumatic memory is still fresh in the minds of the people of Geneva and Lausanne.
A large anti-globalization demonstration is planned for tomorrow in Geneva, which will be the first test of the current security measures. Since June 11, merchants in the city have been securing their shop windows, fearing violence. These precautions are being taken even in neighborhoods far from the planned protest area. It is organized by a group called “No to the G7”. The group also planned a protest in the French border town of Annemasse and a counter-summit, but ultimately abandoned these plans after local authorities imposed drastic requirements on these events, notes Agence France-Presse.
The summit in Evian-les-Bains is the last major event of the summit, which will be chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron, who will no longer be French head of state in 11 months, notes Agence France-Presse.