There has been great secrecy surrounding what is happening at Grand Hotel in central Stockholm right now. The old hotel has been fully booked for several days and the police have been informed.
The police's press spokesperson Per Fahlström is brief.
There is an operation in the central parts of Stockholm and the reason is that it is a meeting of private character. There are many protected individuals expected to attend the meeting, so there may be some escorts, he says.
Kristersson invited
However, on Thursday, Deputy Press Secretary to the Prime Minister Hanna Strömberg confirmed to TT that it is about the Bilderberg Group – and that the Prime Minister has been invited.
Who are the Bilderberg Group and why is so much shrouded in mystery?
Christina Garsten, author and professor of social anthropology, paints a picture of the group founded in 1954 to promote the relationship between Europe and North America.
It's a think tank-like constellation, I would say. A bit looser in contours than many other regular think tanks. It's people in leading positions who meet to discuss transatlantic issues, she says.
Forms political agenda
Garsten believes it is difficult to measure the Bilderberg Group's influence on the world order.
It's because those who attend the meetings are there as individuals and not as representatives of parties or states. So they have no mandate to make any decisions or exert direct influence. But what they can do is work with their respective networks and carry forward issues, they can shape the political agenda in that way, she says.
At last year's meeting in Madrid, among others, the then-NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Spotify founder Daniel Ek and business leader Marcus Wallenberg participated.
It's a discreet organization. They strive for a "safe space" and there may be value in that, but it's clear that the lack of transparency makes you wonder what is being discussed, Garsten says.
