Matti Apunen, who previously attended the Bilderberg meeting, describes the event as a high-quality international seminar where people sit for long days and meet interesting people.
2.6. 16:37 • Updated 2.6. 16:38
Prime minister Sanna Marin (sd.) attends a mysterious Bilderberg meeting in Washington today.
The annual three-day Bilderberg meeting brings together some of the world’s leading figures. The purpose of the informal discussions at the conference is to increase the dialogue between Europe and North America.
The content of the discussions at the meeting is only briefly disclosed to the public.
For years, the closed nature of the event has provoked conspiracy theorists who, among other things, argue that the goal of the meeting would be to form a world government. According to Bilderberg’s website, conspiracy theories against the group are not true.
In 2020 and 2021, no meeting was held due to the corona pandemic.
1. Who is hosting the Bilderberg meeting?
The organizer is the Foundation Bilderberg Meetings. It is chaired by a steering committee, the members of which are elected for a four-year term. The Steering Committee decides on the agenda of the meetings and selects the persons to be invited.
The Steering Committee has two chairs. They are currently Professor of Economics at Leiden University Victor Halberstadt and Chairman of the Board of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, business person Marie-Josée Kravis.
In addition, the committee has more than 30 other members. Among them is one Finn, a former governor of the Bank of Finland Erkki Liikanen.
According to Bilderberg’s website, the former Finnish members of the steering committee are the Professor of Working Life at the University of Tampere and the Chairman of the Board of Yleisradio Matti Apunenformer diplomat and minister Jaakko Iloniemi and the former CEO of Nokia Jorma Ollila.
2. What happens at the meeting?
Matti Apunen tells by phone that, in practice, there are long seminar days from morning to night in the meeting.
People sit tightly in the hall, listening to introductions of topics and then having a discussion related to the theme.
Conference discussions will be conducted according to the Chatham House Rules. This means that the information provided may be freely used, but may not be linked to the claimant. This allows discussioners to express their thoughts and opinions freely.
Matti Apunen says that the Bilderberg meeting is a high-quality international seminar on the world’s big issues.
According to him, the aim of the meeting is to provoke meaningful discussion and generate new ideas.
According to Apunen, during the breaks, people talk to each other freely about the themes of the meeting.
– It is a unique opportunity to meet, for example, top researchers and other people who are otherwise difficult to catch, Apunen says.
He says he has not detected any lobbying or attempts to influence politicians during the meeting.
3. Who will attend the meeting?
About 120-140 people are invited to the meeting every year. Among them are politicians, business leaders, researchers, media representatives and economic and technological experts. The majority of them come from Europe and North America.
There has been little information leaked to the public about this year’s participants. According to the European Commission, one of the participants is the Vice-President of the Commission and the Commissioner responsible for promoting the European way of life Margaritis Schinas.
According to Bilderberg’s website, those invited attend the meeting in private and not in official capacity. However, Prime Minister Sanna Marin is on an official business trip and will travel to the meeting at the expense of the Prime Minister’s Office, ie ultimately with taxpayers’ money.
4. What kind of issues are discussed in the meetings?
This year’s event is even more secretive than usual, as no information about the meeting has been published on Bilderberg’s website so far.
In previous years, the website has provided information about the participants in the meeting and a list of topics for discussion.
For example, in 2019, the agenda included a stable strategic order, the future of Europe, climate change, China, Russia, the future of capitalism, Brexit, the ethics of artificial intelligence, the use of social media as a weapon, the importance of space and cyber threats.
5. What is the criticism of Bilderberg?
The Bilderberg meeting has been criticized for its lack of transparency. Opponents of globalization in particular have criticized the meeting.
Among the participants are democratically elected politicians, but voters do not have access to accurate information about what is happening at the meeting.
In previous years, demonstrations have been seen around the meeting places. The meetings have strict security arrangements due to the high profile of the participants.
Matti Apunen states that a strange vegetation of conspiracy theorists has developed around Bilderberg, which maintains the notion that the meeting would be a secret organization of world power.
– These conspiracy theorists don’t seem to be really affected by anything. But the tenacity with which this myth lives is astonishing to me, Apunen says.
What thoughts did the story provoke? You can discuss 3.6. until 11 p.m.
The story was updated at 18.25 with information about who from Finland will attend the meeting in addition to Marin.