Patrik Brinkmann

Jan Patrick William Brinkmann of Druffel-Egloffstein (born 1966 in Motala), is a Swedish-German businessman with interests in the mining industry. Patrik Brinkmann has funded political projects within the European right and held senior positions in conservative and nationalist organizations. Brinkmann has later changed his political views towards a 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 attributes his changed views to "having gotten to know some immigrants of the Muslim faith". [1]

Brinkmann was in the late 1980s and 1990s active mainly in real estate. During the late 1990s Brinkmann turned his attention to mineral exploration and in 2005 he founded the limited company Wiking Mineral, a prospecting and mine development company, where he and his family own more than 50 percent.[2]

Since the 1990s he has been inspired by identitarian and ethno-pluralist political currents and by the French New Right. He has worked with and for a number of European right-wing parties, including FPÖ, Vlaams Belang, UKIP,[3] NPD and the Islamists critical Pro-Bewegung, both directly and through patron activities in support of conservative and nationalist organisations.[4] He has been seeking to effect closer ties between European and Israeli right-wing parties and in this connection made a visit to the Knesset together with Kent Ekeroth of the Sweden Democrats and Mike Huckabee, ex-governor of Arkansas.[5] Relations with Israel is a controversial issue that divides the European right,[6][7] which is indicated by the reactions to this in both Israel and Europe.[8]

Brinkmann has also been organising conferences and collaborations between academics, writers and political activists within European right through his organisation the Continent Europe Foundation. Among others, Mikhail Gorbachevs former adviser Dashichev played an important role here,[9] and Brinkmann has long advocated a rapprochement between Europe and Russia.[10][11]

Since 2011, Brinkmann is no longer politically active and instead focusses on his business engagements, which according to him suffered from the attention surrounding his political activities.[12] When former Minister Sven-Otto Littorin joined the Board of Wiking Minerals in 2012 this caused a lot of stir in the Swedish press,[13] which ended with Littorin reporting Expressen to the Press Ombudsman.[14]

In July 2014 Brinkmann announced, through a letter to the editor, that he plans live part of his time in Hungary from now on. Discussing the reasons for his move, he states that he considers the Hungarian investment climate promising in the long term and that he appreciates the culturally conservative social climate, as well as the national conservative government. In the same article Brinkmann also praised Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán.[15]

Brinkmann's mother is from Germany and he grew up in Sweden. In his younger years Brinkmann was involved in the Pentecostal movement, doing humanitarian work in Sri Lanka among other places, but he has later come to approach the Orthodox Church. Since 2007 he is living mainly in Berlin, and since 2014 he shares his time between Berlin and Budapest. He is married and has six children.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Här poserar han med kända nazistledaren". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 2016-10-29.
  2. ↑ "Wiking Mineral."
  3. ↑ "Patrik Brinkmann zu politischen Gesprächen im Britischen Oberhaus" PRO-NRW (In German)
  4. ↑ "Portrait Patrik Brinkmann: Mazen von Rechtsaußen." Esszett, July 9, 2011 (in German)
  5. ↑ "Europäische Rechtsparteien bauen Contact nach Israel aus" Junge Freiheit, February 7, 2011 (in German)
  6. ↑ "Israelisk minister mötte nationalister i Belgien." Expo, 7 juni 2011 (In Swedish)
  7. ↑ "Patrik Brinkmann zu Besuch in Österreich und Israel" PRO NRW (in German)
  8. ↑ " Israeli FM complains about Deputy Minister's meetings with extreme-rightists in Europe " Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, July 13, 2011
  9. ↑ "Wjatscheslaw Ivanovich Daschitschew" German Wikipedia (In German)
  10. ↑ "Europa ohne Russland ist undenkbar" Press release, August 5, 2009 (in German)
  11. ↑ "Die deutsch-russische Schicksalsgemeinschaft" Press Release, August 6, 2009 (in German)
  12. ↑ "Brinkmann lämnar politiken. " Expo, August 23, 2011 (In Swedish)
  13. ↑ "Littorin värvas av känd högerextremist" Expressen, 21 juni 2012 (In Swedish)
  14. ↑ "Littorin: 'Nu är det nog'" Dagens Media, 27 juni 2012 (In Swedish)
  15. ↑ "Berlin to Budapest'" Daily News Hungary, July 22, 2014
  16. ↑ "Fears of Neo-Nazi center in Berlin" Spiegel Online, July 12, 2008
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