Bilderberg group meets in Sweden amid US-Europe tensions

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -The annual Bilderberg Meeting kicks off in Sweden on Thursday, providing a private forum for discussion at a time when President Donald Trump has upended security and economic ties between the U.S. and Europe.

The high-level networking event was formed in 1954 to foster dialogue between the U.S. and Europe. It does not invite media and delegates rarely speak about what has been discussed, triggering numerous conspiracy theories about their aims. 

NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Christopher Donahue, Commander of the U.S. Army Europe and Africa are among those on this year's delegate list, published by the organisers just ahead of the meeting.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will give a speech "on Sweden's and the EU's competitiveness and Sweden's support for Ukraine," his spokesperson told Reuters.

Transatlantic relations top the agenda, with Ukraine, critical raw materials and AI also on the list, the organisers who also publish the names of the participants, said.

Other than that, information is scarce. The organisers say the secrecy is to allow participants to be able to speak freely in an environment of trust.

"There is no desired outcome, there is no closing statement, there are no resolutions proposed or votes taken, and the Meeting does not support any political party or viewpoint," the official website says.

How much impact groups like Bilderberg actually have is hard to judge, according to Christina Garsten, professor at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, who studies transnational think tanks. 

They aim to shape the broad political and corporate agenda. But if they are seen as having too much influence, they can be accused of being anti-democratic. 

"It's there that conspiracy theories can flower," she said.

She dismissed the belief held by some that groups like Bilderberg make up a shadowy world government. "I think it's very much exaggerated," she said.

(Reporting by Simon Johnson)