Patrik Brinkmann
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Jan Patrik Vilhelm Brinkmann (born 1966 in Motala, Sweden) is a Swedish-German businessman, entrepreneur and patron with interests in the mining industry and real estate. Brinkmann has funded political projects[1][2] and held senior positions in conservative and nationalist organizations.[specify]
He has worked with and for a number of European and Asian parties, including Freedom Party of Austria FPÖ, Vlaams Belang Belgium, United Kingdom Independence Party UKIP,[3] Islamist-critical Pro-Bewegung Germany, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) India and United National Party (UNP) in Sri Lanka, both directly and through patron activities in support of conservative and nationalist organisations.[4][needs update]
Biography
[edit]Early life and education
[edit]Already in the eighties, Brinkmann developed a passionate interest in cultural-political and social affairs - an interest that has shaped him to this day. Brinkmann's mentors in geopolitics were Oleg Alekseyewich Grinevsky, a Russian diplomat, former ambassador to Sweden, political scientist, Cand.Sc. (history) and author as well as Prof. Dr. Wjatscheslaw Iwanowitsch Dashichew, he observed Mikhail Gorbachev as a foreign policy advisor and is considered a pioneer of East-West détente. Brinkmann has German family roots and grew up in Sweden. In his younger years Brinkmann was involved in the Pentecostal movement, doing humanitarian work in Sri Lanka among other places.[citation needed]
Business and political activism
[edit]Brinkmann was in the late 1980s and 1990s active mainly in real estate investment, during the late 1990s Brinkmann added to his attention natural resources, mainly metal exploration and mining but was also investing in the oil sector, Brinkmann has been part-owner in several companies for example Fingerprint Cards, Naxs AB, Westsiberian Resources Ltd and Wiking Mineral AB over the years.
In 2004, Brinkmann set up the Continent Europe Foundation, which included far-right leaders in various European countries.[1] Its board included two leaders of the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party of Germany.[1][2] Its goals were opposing immigration and Americanism, and supporting a white "pan-European civilization", according to German intelligence.[1] Der Spiegel reported in 2008 that Brinkmann had moved the foundation's operations from a post office box address in Jönköping, Sweden, to a villa in Berlin bought by his wife, and that Brinkmann was "a leading figure in the international far-right scene". Neighbors in Berlin noticed visitors with limousines and bodyguards at the villa.[1] Brinkmann and the foundation organized conferences and collaborations between activists, academics, and writers. Among others, Mikhail Gorbachev's former adviser Professor Wjatscheslaw Iwanowitsch Daschitschew played a role,[5][better source needed] as Brinkmann advocated a rapprochement between Europe and Russia.[6][7]
Brinkmann sought a dialogue between European and Israeli right-wing parties and made a visit to the Knesset with Kent Ekeroth of the Sweden Democrats and Mike Huckabee, ex-governor of Arkansas.[8] The efforts caused controversies in Israel and Europe.[9][10][11]
Since 2011, Brinkmann is no longer politically active and instead focusses on his businesses, which he said suffered from the attention surrounding his political activities.[12][needs update] When former Minister Sven-Otto Littorin joined the Board of Wiking Mineral in 2012 it caused a stir in the Swedish press,[13] which ended with Littorin reporting Expressen to the Press Ombudsman.[14][needs update]
Brinkmann said he had changed some of his views and opinion toward a more pro-Islam stance, stating that "The Muslim view on families supports a positive demographic development and is good as counterpoint to all the single men in the Sweden Democrats party". Brinkmann attributed his changed views to "having gotten to know some immigrants of the Muslim faith".[15][16]
In July 2014, Brinkmann announced that he planned to live part-time in Hungary. He praised the Hungarian investment climate, culturally conservative social climate, and the national conservative government including Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán.[17]
Personal life
[edit]Since 2007, he has primarily resided in Berlin. From 2014 to 2018, he split his time between Berlin and Budapest. Between 2018 and the end of 2022, he alternated between living in Berlin and Colombo. He is married and has six children.
He has come to approach[specify] the Eastern Orthodox Church.[citation needed] He is considered by many to have a Buddhist philosophy and he has a close relationship with Buddhist traditions and Sri Lanka for more than three decades.[citation needed]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "Fears of Neo-Nazi center in Berlin" Spiegel Online, July 12, 2008
- ^ a b Porter, Tom (2017-03-03). "Meet Daniel Friberg, the Swedish mining tycoon bankrolling the alt-right's global media empire". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 2022-05-29.
- ^ "Patrik Brinkmann zu politischen Gesprächen im Britischen Oberhaus" Archived 2014-07-15 at the Wayback Machine PRO-NRW (In German)
- ^ "Portrait Patrik Brinkmann: Mazen von Rechtsaußen." Archived 2014-06-05 at the Wayback Machine Esszett, July 9, 2011 (in German)
- ^ "Wjatscheslaw Ivanovich Daschitschew" German Wikipedia (In German)
- ^ "Europa ohne Russland ist undenkbar" Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine Press release, August 5, 2009 (in German)
- ^ "Die deutsch-russische Schicksalsgemeinschaft" Archived 2015-05-01 at the Wayback Machine Press Release, August 6, 2009 (in German)
- ^ "Europäische Rechtsparteien bauen Contact nach Israel aus" Junge Freiheit, February 7, 2011 (in German)
- ^ "Israelisk minister mötte nationalister i Belgien." Expo, 7 juni 2011 (In Swedish)
- ^ "Patrik Brinkmann zu Besuch in Österreich und Israel" Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine PRO NRW (in German)
- ^ " Israeli FM complains about Deputy Minister's meetings with extreme-rightists in Europe " Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, July 13, 2011
- ^ "Brinkmann lämnar politiken. " Expo, August 23, 2011 (In Swedish)
- ^ "Littorin värvas av känd högerextremist" Expressen, 21 juni 2012 (In Swedish)
- ^ "Littorin: 'Nu är det nog'" Archived 2014-06-05 at the Wayback Machine Dagens Media, 27 juni 2012 (In Swedish)
- ^ "Här poserar han med kända nazistledaren". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 2016-10-29.
- ^ Redaktion (2012-01-26). "Neue Fragen neue Antworten". - PRO Kommentar - (in German). Retrieved 2022-05-29.
- ^ "Berlin to Budapest'" Daily News Hungary, July 22, 2014