Bildberg Lista Strona 2

®l)02/006

06/09 2006 FRI 11:39 PAS 6132711650 Brookstreet Hotel

PRESS RELEASE

BILDERBERG MEETINGS 8 June 2006

The 54th Bilderberg Mccting will be held in Ottawa, Canada, 8-11 June 2006. The Conference will dcal mainly with European-Amcricon relations, Energy, Russia, Iran, the Middle East, Asia,

Tcrrorism, and ImmigTation.

Appro.\imately 130 participants will artend of whom about two-thirds comc ftom Europę and the balance from North America. About onc-third is from govcmment and politics, and two-thirds are from tinancc, induslry, labor, education, and Communications. The meeting is privatc in order to encouragc frank and open discussion.

Bilderberg takes ils name from the hotel in Holland, where the first mccting took place in May 1954. That pionccring mccting grew out of the concem exprcssed by leading citizens on both sides of the Atlantic that Western Europę and North America were not working together as closely as they should on common probiems of critical importance. It was felt that regular, off-thc-record discussions would help create a better understanding of the complex forces and major trends affecting Western nations in the difficult post-war period.

The Cold War has now ended. Bul in practioally all respects there are morę, not fewer, common probiems * from tradc to jobs, from monctary policy to investment, from ecological challcngcs to the task of promoting intcrnotionol security. It is hard to think of any major issuc in cithcr Europę or North America whosc unilatcral solution would not havc repercussions for the other.

Thus the conccpt of a Europcan-Amcrican forum has not been overtaken by time. The dialogue berween these two regions is still - cvcn incrcasingly - critical.

What is uniquc 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-rccord discussion about topics of currcnt conccm especially in the ficlds of foreign affairs and the intemational cconomy; the strong feeling among participants that in vicw of the differing attitudes and experiences of the Western nations, there rcmains a elear need to furtlicr dcvelop an understanding in which these conccrns can be accommodatcd; the privacy of the meetings, which has no purpose other than to allow participants to speak their minds opcnly and frccly.

In short, Bilderberg is a smali, flcxiblc, informal and off-the-rccord intemational forum in which different vicwpoints can be cxprcssed and mutual understanding cnhanccd.

Bildcrbcrg's only activity is its annual Confcrcncc. Al the meetings, no rcsolutions arc proposed. no votcs taken, Bnd no policy statements issued. Since 1954, fifty-three conferenccs have been held. The names of the participants are madc availabie to the press. Participants arc choscn for their expcricncc, their knowlcdgc, and their standing; all participants attend Bilderberg in a privatc and

not an official capacity.

Participants havc agreed not to give intcrviews to the press during the meeting. In contacis with the news media after the confcrcncc it is an established rule that no attribution should bc madc to individual participants of what was discusscd during the mccting.

There will be no press confercnce. A list of participants is appended.