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deBriefings THE BILDERBERG 2000 CONFERENCE PRESS RELEASE very year since 1954, the secretive Bilderberg Group, com- BILDERBERG MEETINGS Best: elite powerbrokers from Europe and North 3 June 2000 America, has met to disc! and influence, the changing he 48th Bilderberg meeting was held in Brussels, Belgium, global political, economic and social landscape. 1-3 June 2000. Among other subjects, the Conference dis- The group of approximately 120 participants or attendees —_ cussed US Elections, Globalisation, New Economy, the Balkans, (they're not referred to as members) varies from year to year, and EU Enlargement, the European Far Right. a 30-strong inner circle, the Bilderberg Steering Committee, Approximately 100 participants from North America and allegedly gets together before the annual meeting and on one _ Europe attended the discussions. The meeting was private in other occasion during the year. order to encourage frank and open discussion. As the media—with the exception of a few hand-picked repre- Bilderberg takes its name from the hotel in Holland where the sentatives who are bound to secrecy—are not allowed entry to _ first meeting took place in May 1954. That pioneering meeting report on the annual meeting, speculation is always rife in the — grew out of the concern expressed by leading citizens on both lead-up as to the meeting's actual location and what items are on __ sides of the Atlantic that Western Europe and North America the agenda. During and after the meeting, speculation continues _ were not working together as closely as they should on common as to the identity of the participants and the problems of critical importance. It was felt subjects discussed and marked for action. that regular, off-the-record discussions 2000 meeting was no exception its location the complex forces and majo tends aes a well-guarded secret until closer to the ing Western nations in the difficult post- beferchas fas thought by intended . The secretive vthe Cold War has now ended. But in inAtwritorSwiteran,buttwassewally | bulGerberg Group, | ee esmmon roblems. from tad held in Belgium at the C viteau du Lac Hotel comprising elite jobs, from monetary policy to investment, The following pres release” and stot | POWEFDFOKers from | scare raonl security. I har participants was ssue by the Bilderberg Europe and North to think of any major issue in either Europe Group at lunchtime on Saturday 3 June, at America, has again or North America whose unilateral solution the close of the conference. The list is by no means an accurate record of everyone who attended, as it is believed that par- ticipants or invited attendees may choose to have their names withheld. There are 98 names on this list. (Bill Clinton was officially in Berlin at the time. Did he make an unannounced visit to Brussels, even though he is not listed as a Bilderberg participant?) Freelance photographer Tony Gosling and others staked out the scene and took fleeting snaps of atten- dees from a distance (see website, national economy; the strong feeling www.bilderberg.org/2000pics.htm). among participants that, in view of the Many of these people are not readily identifiable, and it's likely differing attitudes and experiences of the Western nations, there that the early arrivals are on the Steering Committee. (The hotel remains a clear need to further develop an understanding in provided a canvas shield to hide the identity of arriving/departing | which these concerns can be accommodated; the privacy of the guests.) These "mug shots" have now been posted on the Net for — meetings, which has no purpose other than to allow participants anyone in-the-know to put names to. The website is maintained to speak their minds openly and freely. In short, Bilderberg is a by Grattan Healy, Adviser on Energy and Research with the small, flexible, informal and off-the-record international forum in Green/EFA Group in the European Parliament. (To see the — which different viewpoints can be expressed and mutual under- "Wanted List", go to http://ourworld.compuserve.com/ standing enhanced. homepages/grattan_healy/wanted.html.) Bilderberg's only activity is its annual conference. At the For more background on the Bilderberg Group, see Armen __ meetings, no resolutions are proposed, no votes taken and no pol- Victorian's article in NEXUS 3/01 (Dec 1995-Jan 1996 issue). —_ icy statements issued. Since 1954, forty-seven conferences have For lists of Bilderberg participants since 1954, see Grattan _ been held. The names of the participants are made available to Healy's website or refer to R. Gaylon Ross Sr's Who's Who of the _ the press. Participants are chosen for their experience, their Elite (2nd Revised Edition, January 2000, ISBN 0-9649888-0-1). knowledge and their standing; all participants attend Bilderberg would not have repercussions for the other. Thus the concept of a European—American forum has not een overtaken by time. The dialogue etween these two regions is still— even increasingly—critical. What is unique about Bilderberg as a forum is the broad cross-section of leading citizens that are assembled for nearly three days of informal and off- the-record discussion about topics of current concern, especially in the fields of foreign affairs and the inter- met to discuss, and influence, the changing global political, economic and social landscape. PRESS RELEASE BILDERBERG MEETINGS 3 June 2000 The secretive Bilderberg Group, comprising elite powerbrokers from Europe and North America, has again met to discuss, and influence, the changing global political, economic and social landscape. NEXUS - 13 AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2000