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Bilderberg Meeting
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<p>The Bilderberg Meeting (also known as the "Bilderberg Group", "Bilderberg Conference" or "Bilderberg Club") is an annual off-the-record forum established in 1954 to foster dialogue between <a href="/facts/Europe/DTAtrKfh">Europe</a> and <a href="/facts/North_America/djNjCQIl">North America</a>. The group's agenda, originally to prevent another <a href="/facts/World_war/pEzjDFFs">world war</a>, is now defined as bolstering a consensus around <a href="/facts/Free_market/KnK7JohY">free market</a> Western <a href="/facts/Capitalism/FbPc6TTw">capitalism</a> and its interests around the globe. Participants include <a href="/facts/Political_leaders/JGSyT9DD">political leaders</a>, <a href="/facts/Experts/W1BtG3h1">experts</a>, captains of <a href="/facts/Private_industry/fQudW9hp">industry</a>, <a href="/facts/Finance/fLh1GgN8">finance</a>, <a href="/facts/Academia/Q1cenQyr">academia</a>, numbering between 120 and 150. Attendees are entitled to use information gained at meetings, but not attribute it to a named speaker (known as the <a href="/facts/Chatham_House_Rule/j8uP1N2l">Chatham House Rule</a>). The group states that the purpose of this is to encourage candid debate while at the same time maintaining privacy, but critics from a wide range of viewpoints have called it into question, and it has provoked <a href="/facts/Conspiracy_theory/sNr2Kmh8">conspiracy theories</a> from both the <a href="/facts/Left-wing_politics/JUcz1kvS">left</a> and <a href="/facts/Right-wing_politics/CVoubHMm">right</a>. </p><p>Meetings were chaired by <a href="/facts/Prince_Bernhard_of_Lippe-Biesterfeld/zUpVPYY7">Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands</a> until 1975. The current Chairman is French businessman <a href="/facts/Henri_de_Castries/lsPnJCs9">Henri de Castries</a>. Since 1954, the meeting has taken place every year except in 1976, when it was cancelled due to the <a href="/facts/Lockheed_bribery_scandals/36SKrF5m">Lockheed bribery scandals</a> involving Prince Bernhard, and in 2020 and 2021 due to the <a href="/facts/COVID-19_pandemic/0xTsh7Ut">COVID-19 pandemic</a>. The 70th Bilderberg Meeting took place from May 30th to June 2nd 2024 in <a href="/facts/Madrid/B63nL2DB">Madrid</a>, <a href="/facts/Spain/bIyrB8EY">Spain</a>. </p>