Simon Coveney, Bilderberg and Neutrality

Simon Coveney, Minister for Defence, at his first Bilderberg Conference in July, spent three days deep in conference with the heads of MI6, Nato, the International Monetary Fund, HSBC, Shell, BP and Goldman Sachs International, along with dozens of other chief executives, billionaires and high-ranking politicians from around Europe.

by People’s News

contributed by the authors

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source, credit Daragh McSweeney/Provision

Simon Coveney, Minister for Defence, at his first Bilderberg Conference in July, spent three days deep in conference with the heads of MI6, Nato, the International Monetary Fund, HSBC, Shell, BP and Goldman Sachs International, along with dozens of other chief executives, billionaires and high-ranking politicians from around Europe. This year also includes a visit from the supreme allied commander Europe, and a return of royalty – Queen Sofia of Spain and Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, the daughter of the Bilderberg founder Prince Bernhard.

Items on this year’s agenda included: “What next for Europe?”, “Ukraine”, “Intelligence sharing” and “Does privacy exist”: the world’s most secretive conference discussing whether privacy exists. Certainly for attendees it did, as Coveney and Sutherland et al plotted behind a double ring of three-metre high security fencing.

There’s something chilling about the existence of privacy being debated, in extreme privacy, by people such as the executive chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, and the board member of Facebook Peter Thiel. And to be discussing it with the head of MI6, Sir John Sawers, and Keith Alexander, the recently replaced head of the National Security Agency.

We know that Coveney was scheduled to discuss the situation in Ukraine with parties, such as the chief executive of the European arms giant Airbus, Thomas Enders. Not to mention the chief executive and chairman of “the defence & security company” Saab and billionaire investors including Henry Kravis of KKR, who is “always looking to sharpen” what he calls “the KKR edge.” Helping Kravis sharpen his edge was General David Petraeus, former director of the CIA, now head of the KKR Global Institute – a massive investment operation.

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The Bilderberg Group says the conference has no desired outcome. But for private equity giants, and the heads of banks, arms manufacturers and oil companies, there’s always a desired outcome.

Try telling that to the lobbyists who have been working so hard to push the TTIP deal that is presently being negotiated. Bilderberg is packed to the gills with senior members of powerful lobby groups. Will members of BritishAmerican Business’s international advisory board, such as Douglas Flint and Peter Sutherland, express BAB’s fervent support of TTIP when discussing “Is the economic recovery sustainable?” Or will they leave their lobbying hats at the door?

Bilderberg is the cabal of the rich and powerful who are working to consolidate and extend the grip of the markets. And they’re doing it beyond the reach of the media or the public.

On his return, Coveney said in the Dáil that the Green Paper on Defence, which was published in 2013, recognised that on balance the advantages of retaining the “triple lock” mechanism could be seen as outweighing the disadvantages. Nonetheless, he considered it as an issue worthy of discussion in advance of the adoption of the next White Paper on Defence, which is not surprising when one considers who he had been rubbing shoulders with just a few weeks before.

He pointed out that Working Groups comprising civil and military representatives from the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces are currently considering future operational demands and the defence capabilities required to meet projected future operational requirements. In the course of their deliberations, the Working Groups are taking into consideration the inputs received from a wide variety of stakeholders. This includes the views of international organisations – hardly Bilderberg! – which have been sought with a particular focus on likely future trends in international peace support operations.

Discussions have also been held with a range of other Government Departments on cross-cutting policy issues and likely future demands from Government bodies and State agencies. This includes the ongoing review of Ireland’s Foreign Policy and External Relations. This ongoing work will underpin recommendations regarding defence provision for the next decade. But where are our elected representatives in all these reviews and Working Groups and surely there is scope for consulting civil society groups and NGOs? But the government follows the Bilderberg style – it’s all secret but you can bet that the last tattered vestiges of neutrality are on the line. And, who do you think will be the next leader of FG?

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