Elitist

Following his controversial attendance at the annual opening of International Caspian oil and Gas Exhibition in Baku earlier this week, The Crown Prince has been censured this time for attending the elite Bilderberg meeting at St. Moritz’s Suvretta House hotel.

“When you have a Monarchy, the Monarch should remain neutral, not himself in an elite club such as this. They enjoy each other’s company and glorify their position. The Crown Prince is about to become entangled in a exclusive upper-class,” Professor of Political science Trond Nordby told NRK.

HRH was one of over 100 invited participants comprising politicians, bank owners, journalists, business leaders, and industrialists. Other Norwegians present were Conservative Party (H) leader Erna Solberg, Egil Myklebust, former Chairman of the Board of Directors SAS, Norsk Hydro ASA, amongst others.

NRK reports Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg also attended Bilderberg. According the group, this year’s themes were “Challenges for Growth: Innovation and Budgetary Discipline, the Euro and Challenges for the European Union, the role of Emerging Economies, Social Networks: Connectivity and Security Issues, New Challenges in the Middle East, Conflict Areas, Demographic Challenges, China, Switzerland: Can it remain successful in the future.”

Conspiracies, or crap?

View of Suvretta House in summer
Courtesy of Suvretta HouseThe Bilderberg Group, which marked its 50^th anniversary this week, is known for holding annual meetings with select invited participants. The only information to become public is attendees’ names. No media coverage is allowed, and the hotel perimeters are always guarded.

Bilderberg claims to be “a small, flexible, informal and off-the-record international forum in which different viewpoints can be expressed and mutual understanding enhanced.” Nevertheless, the group’s “off-the-record” aspect is the cause of global conspiracies, reports the BBC.

Whilst former journalist turned activist Tony Gosling has a problem with the secrecy, BBC News journalist Jonathan Duffy describes the group of being “an elite coterie of Western thinkers and power-brokers, accused of fixing the fate of the world behind closed doors.”

“Crap! There's absolutely nothing in it. We never sought to reach a consensus on the big issues at Bilderberg. It's simply a place for discussion," says the Bilderberg Group’s co-founder former Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Dennis Healey.

“Bilderberg is the most useful international group I ever attended. The confidentiality enabled people to speak honestly without fear of repercussions. In my experience the most useful meetings are those when one is free to speak openly and honestly. It's not unusual at all. Cabinet meetings in all countries are held behind closed doors and the minutes are not published." he continues.

The meeting ended today.

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