The G7 foreign ministers meeting that was due to be held in Marseille on Nov. 9-10 has been moved to Paris for “logistical and operational reasons”, a correspondence sent to participants seen by Reuters and three diplomats said on Thursday.
– “The meeting of the G7 Foreign Ministers will ultimately be held on Monday and Tuesday in Paris,” according to the correspondence.
– “This change is primarily due to logistical and operational reasons. The scheduling of the G7 and the Paris Peace Forum in a very compressed timeframe requires significant mobilisation of human resources, equipment, security, accommodation and transportation for the delegations.”
– According to two of the diplomats, delegations were informed on Wednesday evening. The Paris Peace Forum, an annual diplomacy conference, and G7 have both been scheduled for those dates for several months and there had been no indication of any changes earlier this week.
– Security forces have been stretched since September amid an ongoing student protest movement that has widened into broader demonstrations. Further protests are taking place on Thursday.
– An Oct. 17 protest across multiple cities, including Marseille, ended with mass riots, looting and violent clashes between protesters and police. Marseille was the scene of some of the worst violence.
– Other than France, the G7 group of nations includes Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States as well as the European Union.
– France’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.