Bilderberg 2011: Lord Mandelson's nature walk
Charlie Skelton looks on as Peter Mandelson – and some billionaire buddies – take the air at Bilderberg
A shadow fell across the Engadine. The skylark ceased his merry song, the flowers curled and blackened in the meadow and a man in a special issue Bilderberg anorak set off on his stroll.
Bilderberg has had some bad ideas in its time (a European superstate, anyone?) but Lord Mandelson's nature walk has to be the worst. What were they hoping for? Had they not seen the 200 activists camped opposite the hotel gates?
Out of the gates they drove in their very own Bilderbus, up the mountain to a charming spot. The plan: to amble down through the gorgeous scenery, back to the Suvretta House Hotel for tea.
Out of the bus stepped Erich Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, and Franco Bernabè, the CEO of Telecom Italia, followed by China's vice-minister of foreign affairs, Ying Fu, with her amazing hair.
Photograph: Hannah Borno
Then came the Swedish billionaire banker and industrialist Jacob Wallenberg, and the dapper CEO of Airbus, Thomas Enders. More of him later.
Mandelson led the way, locked in conversation with Sir Richard Lambert, a global non-executive director for Ernst & Young and the former editor of the FT. The Tory MP Rory Stewart trotted behind.
It was an odd walk right from the start. From nowhere, like something from a dream, a distinguished lady, dressed from top to toe in white, whooshed serenely past security and swanned to the front of the power walkers.
Photograph: Hannah BornoNo one recognised her or has seen her since. She had an other-worldy quality; I half expected her to be leading them to Charon's boat, or up a stairway formed of clouds.
Mandelson fell into step with Schmidt. We couldn't hear their happy chatter, but I presume they were admiring the breathtaking scenery, comparing their favourite wild flower, and hammering out how best to implement an internet kill switch.
Photograph: Stefan-Hans BauerThe lady in white led her band of Bilderberg bigwigs and billionaires along the charming Swiss byways, across bridges over gentle streams ... and straight into a pack of 50 baffled activists, who were milling around outside a community hall during a break in a symposium.
This couldn't possibly be happening. "This is terrible," Mandelson was heard to exclaim as the activists swarmed around the delegates, firing questions and chorusing their concern. You can watch some remarkable footage from the incident on Alex Jones's website.
One activist, Ali Aslan, walked alongside Enders, the Airbus boss, and
asked him what was being discussed at this year's conference. "Nothing bad," said Enders. "We are just making our agendas." (This was the German word used: agenda – the same as in English).
"I don't understand," said Alsan. "There are politicians inside. Why are we not allowed to know what you're talking about?"
Enders smiled and said: "I don't have to tell you, and you don't need to know." And with that, he and his fellow delegates ducked beneath the security cordon, into the blessed safety of Bilderberg.
I don't know who organised the conference itinerary this year – but good luck in your next job.
Thanks to the fantastic work of Bilderberg activists, journalists and the Swiss media, we have now been able to obtain the full official list of 2011 Bilderberg attendees. Routinely, some members request that their names be kept off the roster so there will be additional Bilderbergers in attendance.
Infowars will be on the scene identifying other attendees not on the list.
Belgium
- Coene, Luc, Governor, National Bank of Belgium
- Davignon, Etienne, Minister of State
- Leysen, Thomas, Chairman, Umicore
China
- Fu, Ying, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Huang, Yiping, Professor of Economics, China Center for Economic Research, Peking University
Denmark
- Eldrup, Anders, CEO, DONG Energy
- Federspiel, Ulrik, Vice President, Global Affairs, Haldor Topsøe A/S
- Schütze, Peter, Member of the Executive Management, Nordea Bank AB
Germany
- Ackermann, Josef, Chairman of the Management Board and the Group Executive Committee, Deutsche Bank
- Enders, Thomas, CEO, Airbus SAS
- Löscher, Peter, President and CEO, Siemens AG
- Nass, Matthias, Chief International Correspondent, Die Zeit
- Steinbrück, Peer, Member of the Bundestag; Former Minister of Finance
Finland
- Apunen, Matti, Director, Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA
- Johansson, Ole, Chairman, Confederation of the Finnish Industries EK
- Ollila, Jorma, Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell
- Pentikäinen, Mikael, Publisher and Senior Editor-in-Chief, Helsingin Sanomat
France
- Baverez, Nicolas, Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
- Bazire, Nicolas, Managing Director, Groupe Arnault /LVMH
- Castries, Henri de, Chairman and CEO, AXA
- Lévy, Maurice, Chairman and CEO, Publicis Groupe S.A.
- Montbrial, Thierry de, President, French Institute for International Relations
- Roy, Olivier, Professor of Social and Political Theory, European University Institute
Great Britain
- Agius, Marcus, Chairman, Barclays PLC
- Flint, Douglas J., Group Chairman, HSBC Holdings
- Kerr, John, Member, House of Lords; Deputy Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell
- Lambert, Richard, Independent Non-Executive Director, Ernst & Young
- Mandelson, Peter, Member, House of Lords; Chairman, Global Counsel
- Micklethwait, John, Editor-in-Chief, The Economist
- Osborne, George, Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Stewart, Rory, Member of Parliament
- Taylor, J. Martin, Chairman, Syngenta International AG
Greece
- David, George A., Chairman, Coca-Cola H.B.C. S.A.
- Hardouvelis, Gikas A., Chief Economist and Head of Research, Eurobank EFG
- Papaconstantinou, George, Minister of Finance
- Tsoukalis, Loukas, President, ELIAMEP Grisons
International Organizations
- Almunia, Joaquín, Vice President, European Commission
- Daele, Frans van, Chief of Staff to the President of the European Council
- Kroes, Neelie, Vice President, European Commission; Commissioner for Digital Agenda
- Lamy, Pascal, Director General, World Trade Organization
- Rompuy, Herman van, President, European Council
- Sheeran, Josette, Executive Director, United Nations World Food Programme
- Solana Madariaga, Javier, President, ESADEgeo Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics
- Trichet, Jean-Claude, President, European Central Bank
- Zoellick, Robert B., President, The World Bank Group
Ireland
- Gallagher, Paul, Senior Counsel; Former Attorney General
- McDowell, Michael, Senior Counsel, Law Library; Former Deputy Prime Minister
- Sutherland, Peter D., Chairman, Goldman Sachs International
Italy
- Bernabè, Franco, CEO, Telecom Italia SpA
- Elkann, John, Chairman, Fiat S.p.A.
- Monti, Mario, President, Univers Commerciale Luigi Bocconi
- Scaroni, Paolo, CEO, Eni S.p.A.
- Tremonti, Giulio, Minister of Economy and Finance
Canada
- Carney, Mark J., Governor, Bank of Canada
- Clark, Edmund, President and CEO, TD Bank Financial Group
- McKenna, Frank, Deputy Chair, TD Bank Financial Group
- Orbinksi, James, Professor of Medicine and Political Science, University of Toronto
- Prichard, J. Robert S., Chair, Torys LLP
- Reisman, Heather, Chair and CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc. Center, Brookings Institution
Netherlands
- Bolland, Marc J., Chief Executive, Marks and Spencer Group plc
- Chavannes, Marc E., Political Columnist, NRC Handelsblad; Professor of Journalism
- Halberstadt, Victor, Professor of Economics, Leiden University; Former Honorary Secretary General of Bilderberg Meetings
- H.M. the Queen of the Netherlands
- Rosenthal, Uri, Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Winter, Jaap W., Partner, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek
Norway
- Myklebust, Egil, Former Chairman of the Board of Directors SAS, sk Hydro ASA
- H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway
- Ottersen, Ole Petter, Rector, University of Oslo
- Solberg, Erna, Leader of the Conservative Party
Austria
- Bronner, Oscar, CEO and Publisher, Standard Medien AG
- Faymann, Werner, Federal Chancellor
- Rothensteiner, Walter, Chairman of the Board, Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG
- Scholten, Rudolf, Member of the Board of Executive Directors, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG
Portugal
- Balsemão, Francisco Pinto, Chairman and CEO, IMPRESA, S.G.P.S.; Former Prime Minister
- Ferreira Alves, Clara, CEO, Claref LDA; writer
- Nogueira Leite, António, Member of the Board, José de Mello Investimentos, SGPS, SA
Sweden
- Mordashov, Alexey A., CEO, Severstal
Schweden - Bildt, Carl, Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Björling, Ewa, Minister for Trade
- Wallenberg, Jacob, Chairman, Investor AB
Switzerland
- Brabeck-Letmathe, Peter, Chairman, Nestlé S.A.
- Groth, Hans, Senior Director, Healthcare Policy & Market Access, Oncology Business Unit, Pfizer Europe
- Janom Steiner, Barbara, Head of the Department of Justice, Security and Health, Canton
- Kudelski, André, Chairman and CEO, Kudelski Group SA
- Leuthard, Doris, Federal Councillor
- Schmid, Martin, President, Government of the Canton Grisons
- Schweiger, Rolf, Ständerat
- Soiron, Rolf, Chairman of the Board, Holcim Ltd., Lonza Ltd.
- Vasella, Daniel L., Chairman, Novartis AG
- Witmer, Jürg, Chairman, Givaudan SA and Clariant AG
Spain
- Cebrián, Juan Luis, CEO, PRISA
- Cospedal, María Dolores de, Secretary General, Partido Popular
- León Gross, Bernardino, Secretary General of the Spanish Presidency
- Nin Génova, Juan María, President and CEO, La Caixa
- H.M. Queen Sofia of Spain
Turkey
- Ciliv, Süreyya, CEO, Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S.
- Gülek Domac, Tayyibe, Former Minister of State
- Koç, Mustafa V., Chairman, Koç Holding A.S.
- Pekin, Sefika, Founding Partner, Pekin & Bayar Law Firm
USA
- Alexander, Keith B., Commander, USCYBERCOM; Director, National Security Agency
- Altman, Roger C., Chairman, Evercore Partners Inc.
- Bezos, Jeff, Founder and CEO, Amazon.com
- Collins, Timothy C., CEO, Ripplewood Holdings, LLC
- Feldstein, Martin S., George F. Baker Professor of Economics, Harvard University
- Hoffman, Reid, Co-founder and Executive Chairman, LinkedIn
- Hughes, Chris R., Co-founder, Facebook
- Jacobs, Kenneth M., Chairman & CEO, Lazard
- Johnson, James A., Vice Chairman, Perseus, LLC
- Jordan, Jr., Vernon E., Senior Managing Director, Lazard Frères & Co. LLC
- Keane, John M., Senior Partner, SCP Partners; General, US Army, Retired
- Kissinger, Henry A., Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc.
- Kleinfeld, Klaus, Chairman and CEO, Alcoa
- Kravis, Henry R., Co-Chairman and co-CEO, Kohlberg Kravis, Roberts & Co.
- Kravis, Marie-Josée, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, Inc.
- Li, Cheng, Senior Fellow and Director of Research, John L. Thornton China Center, Brookings Institution
- Mundie, Craig J., Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft Corporation
- Orszag, Peter R., Vice Chairman, Citigroup Global Markets, Inc.
- Perle, Richard N., Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- Rockefeller, David, Former Chairman, Chase Manhattan Bank
- Rose, Charlie, Executive Editor and Anchor, Charlie Rose
- Rubin, Robert E., Co-Chairman, Council on Foreign Relations; Former Secretary of the Treasury
- Schmidt, Eric, Executive Chairman, Google Inc.
- Steinberg, James B., Deputy Secretary of State
- Thiel, Peter A., President, Clarium Capital Management, LLC
- Varney, Christine A., Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust
- Vaupel, James W., Founding Director, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
- Warsh, Kevin, Former Governor, Federal Reserve Board
- Wolfensohn, James D., Chairman, Wolfensohn & Company, LLC
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