Udo Ulfkotte

Ulfkotte was born in Lippstadt in Westphalia and grew up in Dorsten and Warburg. After graduating from high school in 1978 at the Marianum Gymnasium in Warburg, he studied law and political science at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg.{{cite web|website=ulfkotte.de|url=http://www.ulfkotte.de/8.html |title=Udo Ulfkotte|accessdate=14 April 2024|language=de}} In February 1987, he received his doctorate under Dieter Oberndörfer at the University of Freiburg with a dissertation on continuity and change of American and Soviet politics in Near and Middle East 1967 to 1980.{{cite book|first=Sebastian |last=Liebold|chapter=Dieter Oberndörfer (geboren 1929)|editor-first1=Eckhard |editor-last1=Jesse|editor-first2=Sebastian |editor-last2=Liebold|title=Deutsche Politikwissenschaftler – Werk und Wirkung. Von Abendroth bis Zellentin|publisher=Nomos|isbn=978-3-8329-7647-7|page=575|language=de}}

In October 1986, Ulfkotte became a member of the political editorial board of FAZ, where he belonged to the foreign policy department until 2003 and dealt with Africa, the Arab states and the United Nations.{{cite news|first=Ingeborg |last=Lukas|title=Sie redigieren und schreiben|work=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung|year=2000|pages=119, 134|language=de}} He said that he lived mainly in Islamic countries between 1986 and 1998 (including Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan) and travelled to over sixty states. These stays would have helped shape his image of Islam.{{cite news|first1=Georg |last1=Anastasiadis|first2=Werner |last2=Menner|url=https://www.merkur.de/politik/ein-tsunami-islamisierung-335138.html|title="Ein Tsunami der Islamisierung"|work=Münchner Merkur|date=30 July 2007|language=de}} According to Michael Schmidt-Salomon, he was a "born-again Christian".{{cite book|first=Michael |last=Schmidt-Salomon|title=Die Grenzen der Toleranz: Warum wir die offene Gesellschaft verteidigen müssen|publisher=Piper|year=2016|isbn=978-3-492-31031-4|page=19|language=de}}

During his studies, he was an employee of the CDU-oriented Konrad Adenauer Foundation and from 1999 to 2003 belonged to the planning staff of the foundation.{{cite news|first=Jan-Philipp |last=Hein|url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/neokonservatives-projekt-autor-ulfkotte-plant-anti-islamische-partei-a-472151.html |title=Autor Ulfkotte plant anti-islamische Partei|work=Spiegel Online]|date=16 March 2007|language=de}} He was regarded as a specialist in security management and business espionage.{{cite book|first=Wolfgang |last=Benz|title=Die Feinde aus dem Morgenland. Wie die Angst vor den Muslimen unsere Demokratie gefährdet|edition=2|publisher=Beck|year=2013|isbn=978-3-406-66260-7|page=71|language=de}} Ulfkotte was a lecturer in security management in the field of business administration at Leuphana University of Lüneburg from 1999 to 2007 and taught competition observation in the United States. From June 2005 to June 2006 he was chief correspondent for the personality magazine Park Avenue of the Hamburg publishing house Gruner + Jahr. His articles appeared among others in the magazines, Capital, Cicero, Junge Freiheit and the news agency German Telegraphic Service. Ulfkotte was a guest on several talk shows and a press club.{{cite news|first=Astrid |last=Geisler|url=https://taz.de/!5197907/ |title=Der Kreuzretter|work=Die Tageszeitung|date=18 July 2007|page=5}}

In 2004, the Frankfurt am Main public prosecutor's office searched Ulfkotte's private and office space because of the "suspicion of incitement to the betrayal of their secrets" of the Criminal Code. Ulfkotte is said to have known about state protection proceedings before they became publicly known. He denied bribes and said the action was politically motivated. The German Journalists' Association (DJV) said: "If it was a question of silencing a journalist in times of widespread fear of terror, it would have to be massively protested against it".{{cite news|first=Jan |last=Rübel|url=https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article303930/Staatsanwaltschaft-durchsucht-Privat-und-Bueroraeume-von-Autor-Udo-Ulfkotte.html |title=Staatsanwaltschaft durchsucht Privat- und Büroräume von Autor Udo Ulfkotte|work=Die Welt|date=1 April 2004|page=4|language=de}} The procedure was closed in 2005.

Ulfkotte wrote books on intelligence and Islamism. From 2008, his books have been published by Kopp Verlag, which is known for its conspiracy theory and right-wing populist publications.{{cite book|first=Ulrike |last=Heß-Meining|chapter=Right-Wing Esotericism in Europe|editor-first1=Uwe |editor-last1=Backes|editor-first2=Patrick |editor-last2=Moreau|title=The Extreme Right in Europe. Current Trends and Perspectives|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|year=2011|isbn=978-3-525-36922-7|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RBnmachN8vkC&pg=PA402|page=402|language=de}} He was also a regular author of the internet portal Kopp-Online and editor-in-chief of the weekly magazine Kopp-Exklusiv. Because of his provocative right-wing views, he was considered one of the key figures between the Neue Rechte and Kopp.{{cite book|first=Anna |last=Hunger|chapter=Gut vernetzt – Der Kopp-Verlag und die schillernde rechte Publizistenszene|editor-first1=Stephan |editor-last1=Braun|editor-first2=Alexander |editor-last2=Geisler|editor-first3=Martin|editor-last3=Gerster|title=Strategien der extremen Rechten: Hintergründe – Analysen – Antworten|edition=2|publisher=Springer|year=2015|isbn=978-3-658-01983-9|page=431|language=de}}

Ulfkotte was a co-founder of the anti-Islamic association Pax Europa in 2006,{{cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/welt_print/article2813789/Stuermer-Stil-Publizist-Ulfkotte-verlaesst-islamkritische-Bewegung.html|title="Stürmer-Stil": Publizist Ulfkotte verlässt islamkritische Bewegung|work=Die Welt|date=2 December 2008|language=de}} which joined Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE), as part of the counter-jihad movement.{{cite book|url=https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/files/192414854/Aked_Jones_Miller_Counterjihad_report_2019.pdf|last1=Aked|first1=H.|last2=Jones|first2=M.|last3=Miller|first3=D.|year=2019|title=Islamophobia in Europe: How governments are enabling the far-right 'counter-jihad' movement|series=Public Interest Investigations|publisher=University of Bristol|page=36|isbn=978-0-9570274-9-7|hdl=1983/cd525157-683a-493b-b27f-9a5ffbca312c|hdl-access=free}} In 2007, he formed the European Friends of Democracy and Values.{{cite journal|first=Paul |last=Lucardie|url=http://www.bpb.de/apuz/30281/populismus-im-parteiensystem-in-deutschland-und-den-niederlanden?p=all |title=Populismus im Parteiensystem in Deutschland und den Niederlanden|journal=Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte|number=35–36|year=2007|page=44|language=de}} In the 2007 Bremen parliament election, he supported the right-wing populist voters' association Citizens in Rage (BIW), which he joined in June 2007.{{cite book|first=Florian |last=Hartleb|chapter=Bürger in Wut (BIW)|editor-first1=Frank |editor-last1=Decker|editor-first2=Viola |editor-last2=Neu|title=Handbuch der deutschen Parteien|edition=2|publisher=Springer|year=2013|isbn=978-3-658-00962-5|page=191|language=de}}

File:Udo Ulfkotte bei Pegida.jpg rally in 2015]]

Also in June 2007, Ulfkotte signed the anti-Islam organisation Federal Association of Citizens' Movements (BDB)'s "Wertheimer Appell" against their supposed "creeping Islamisation" of Germany.{{cite book|first1=Humayun |last1=Ansari|first2=Farid |last2=Hafez|title=From the Far Right to the Mainstream: Islamophobia in Party Politics and the Media|publisher=Campus|year=2012|pages=39–40}} On 11 September 2007, Pax Europa together with Stop Islamisation of Denmark (SIAD) and the British No Sharia Here, planned a Europe-wide demonstration against the "Islamisation of Europe" in Brussels. On 9 August 2007, this was banned by the Mayor of Brussels Freddy Thielemans.{{cite book|first1=Kerstin |last1=Engelmann|first2=Friederike |last2=Günther|first3=Nele |last3=Heise|first4=Florian |last4=Hohmann|first5=Ulrike |last5=Irrgang|title=Muslimische Weblogs. Der Islam im deutschsprachigen Internet|series=Medien und politische Kommunikation – Naher Osten und islamische Welt|volume=20|publisher=Frank & Timme|year=2010|isbn=978-3-86596-239-3|page=132|language=de}} Pax Europa and SIOE approached the far-right Belgian party Vlaams Belang for their assistance.{{cite news|last=Diab|first=Khaled|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/sep/11/villainsofthepax |title=Villains of the pax|work=The Guardian|date=11 September 2007|access-date=13 October 2021}} The associations complained against the ban and were represented by the Belgian lawyer Hugo Coveliers, whom Filip Dewinter of Vlaams Belang, had given them.{{cite news|title=Ik verdeel de bevolking in twee kampen, ik been en breekijzer|work=De Morgen|date=17 August 2007|page=6|quote="Anti-Islam-Politiker Udo Ulfkotte trifft sich mit Philip Dewinter und Hugo Coveliers: ‚Ich teile die Bevölkerung in zwei Lager, ich bin ein Brecheisen.‘ Udo Ulfkotte (l.) zu Gast bei Philip Dewinter. ‚Natürlich bin ich gern auf Dewinters Vorschlag eingegangen, einen Anwalt für unsere Organisation zu vermitteln. Auch der Vlaams Belang hatte vorgeschlagen, uns zu helfen, beispielsweise mit seinem Sicherheitsdienst, aber das haben wir abgelehnt. Wir arbeiten nicht mit dieser Partei zusammen.‘"}} The lawsuit filed on 30 August 2007 was dismissed. After initial cooperation,{{cite book|first=Alexander |last=Häusler|title=Rechtspopulismus als "Bürgerbewegung". Kampagnen gegen Islam und Moscheebau und kommunale Gegenstrategien|publisher=VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften|year=2008|isbn=978-3-531-15919-5|page= 164}} Ulfkotte and Pax Europa distanced themselves from Vlaams Belang and the Cologne branch of the German League for People and Homeland (DLVH), the Citizens' Movement Pro Cologne, which had called for participation in the demonstrations. In 2008, Pax Europa merged with the BDB{{cite book|first=Cas |last=Mudde|title=The Populist Radical Right: A Reader|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2016|page=121}} to form the Citizens' Movement Pax Europa (BPE).

The German Centre Party announced before the Hamburg parliament election in 2008 that Ulfkotte was a non-party candidate on list space 2 behind the party chairman Dirk Nockemann, but he did not stand for election.{{cite news|first1=Astrid |last1=Geisler|first2=Olaf |last2=Ballnus|url=http://www.taz.de/1/archiv/digitaz/artikel/?ressort=sw&dig=2008%2F02%2F19%2Fa0136&cHash=65d94cf17af212a98a8d01474c2f57a5|title=Gottlieb Gnadenlos|work=Die Tageszeitung|date=19 February 2008|page=5|language=de}} In July 2008, Die Welt reported on death threats on the internet against Ulfkotte and his wife in connection with an anti-Islamic video posted on YouTube, which was not from the Ulfkottes, but was falsely attributed to them.{{cite news|first=Ansgar |last=Graw|url=https://www.welt.de/politik/article2241147/Islamkritiker-auf-der-Flucht-vor-Extremisten.html |title=Todesdrohungen: Islamkritiker auf der Flucht vor Extremisten|work=Die Welt|date=23 July 2008|page=4|language=de}} At the beginning of December 2008, Ulfkotte left the association Citizens' Movement Pax Europa (BPE), which he founded, because of its "increasingly extremist courses".

On 22 December 2014, Ulfkotte appeared as an "official" speaker at the Bogida demonstration controlled by Pro NRW, where he made "16 arguments" in support of Pegida.{{cite journal|first=Volker|last=Weiß|url=http://www.bpb.de/politik/extremismus/rechtsextremismus/199153/sind-sie-das-volk-pegida-die-patriotischen-europaeer-gegen-die-islamisierung-des-abendlandes |title=Sind sie das Volk? Pegida – die Patriotischen Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes|journal=Dossier Rechtsextremismus der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung|date=6 January 2015|language=de}} He took part in a Pegida event in Dresden as a speaker on 5 January 2015.

In 2014, Ulfkotte's book Gekaufte Journalisten (English: Bought Journalists: How Politicians, Intelligence Agencies and High Finance Control Germany’s Mass Media) was published. In this work, he stated that the CIA and other secret services pay money to journalists to report stories in a certain light. According to Ulfkotte, the CIA and German intelligence (BND) bribe journalists in Germany to write pro-NATO propaganda articles, and it is well understood that one may lose their media job if they fail to comply with the pro-Western agenda. This is part of a larger pattern of media corruption he describes in the book.{{cite news|url=http://www.elmundo.es/television/2014/09/26/54252661e2704ee3778b4574.html|title=Periodistas alemanes comprados|newspaper=El Mundo|access-date=21 December 2017}} An English translation was released under the title Presstitutes.{{Cite web|url=http://www.progressivepress.com/home|title=Current Bestsellers | Progressive Press|date=26 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226072611/http://www.progressivepress.com/home|accessdate=28 August 2021|archive-date=26 February 2021}} Several media outlets rejected Ulfkotte's claims as frivolous.

Der Spiegel wrote that "Ulfkotte's book was published by Kopp, a melting pot for conspiracy theorists. Kopp publishes works by ufologists, and by authors who claim the Americans destroyed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center themselves in 2001. Ulfkotte's book was on the bestseller lists for months. According to the magazine, "Bought Journalists is the bible of all those who have renounced their faith in the German media. Ulfkotte's critics see the book as a vendetta against the FAZ, which he left on bad terms."Markus Brauck et al "[http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/most-germans-think-the-press-is-lying-to-them-about-refugees-a-1079049.html Germans Lose Faith in the Fourth Estate]" Der Spiegel February 24, 2016

Ulfkotte died from a heart attack on 13 January 2017 at the age of 56.{{Cite web|url=http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/literatur/udo-ulfkotte-umstrittener-publizist-und-ehemaliger-faz-journalist-ist-tot-a-1130008.html|title=Udo Ulfkotte: Umstrittener Publizist und ehemaliger FAZ-Journalist ist tot|language=de|work=Spiegel Online|date=14 January 2017}}

• {{cite book|title=Presstitutes Embedded in the Pay of the CIA: A Confession from the Profession|publisher=Progressive Press|year=2019|isbn=978-1-61577-017-5}}
• {{cite book|title=Journalists for Hire: How the CIA Buys the News|publisher=Next Revelation|year=2017|isbn=978-1-944505-45-5}}

• {{cite book|title=Volkspädagogen: Wie uns die Massenmedien politisch korrekt erziehen wollen|trans-title=People's educators: How the mass media want to educate us politically correctly|year=2019|publisher=Kopp|isbn=978-3-86445-694-7}}
• {{cite book|title=Mekka Deutschland: Die stille Islamisierung|trans-title=Mecca Germany: The silent Islamization|year=2019|publisher=Kopp|isbn=978-3-86445-666-4}}
• {{cite book|title=Gekaufte Journalisten: Wie Politiker, Geheimdienste und Hochfinanz Deutschlands Massenmedien lenken|trans-title=Bought journalists: how politicians, secret services and high finance control Germany's mass media|year=2014|publisher=Kopp|isbn=978-3-86445-143-0}}
• {{cite book|title=Vorsicht Bürgerkrieg!: Was lange gärt, wird endlich Wut|trans-title=Caution civil war!: What has been fermenting for a long time will finally be anger|year=2009|publisher=Kopp|isbn=978-3-938516-94-2}}
• {{cite book|title=Heiliger Krieg in Europa: wie die radikale Muslimbruderschaft unsere Gesellschaft bedroht|trans-title=Holy War in Europe. How the radical Muslim Brotherhood threatens our society|publisher=Eichborn|year=2007|isbn=978-3-8218-5577-6}}
• {{cite book|title=Der Krieg im Dunkeln: die wahre Macht der Geheimdienste|trans-title=The War in the Dark. The True Power of the Secret Services|publisher=Eichborn|year=2006|isbn=978-3-8218-5578-3}}
• {{cite book|title=Grenzenlos kriminell: die Risiken der EU-Osterweiterung: was Politiker verschweigen|trans-title=Limitless criminal: The risks of the EU east expansion: What politicians are silent|publisher=Bertelsmann|year=2004|isbn=978-3-570-00200-1}}
• {{cite book|title=Der Krieg in unseren Städten: wie radikale Islamisten Deutschland unterwandern|trans-title=The War in our Cities. As Radical Islamists Infiltrate Germany|publisher=Eichborn|year=2003|isbn=978-3-596-16340-3}}
• {{cite book|title=Wirtschaftsspionage: wie deutsche Unternehmen von ausländischen Geheimdiensten ausgeplündert und ruiniert werden|trans-title=Economic espionage: How German companies are looted and ruined by foreign intelligence agencies|publisher=Goldmann|year=2001|isbn=978-3-442-15125-7}}
• {{cite book|title=Propheten des Terrors: das geheime Netzwerk der Islamisten|trans-title=Prophets of the Terror. The Secret Network of the Islamists|publisher=Goldmann|year=2001|isbn=978-3-442-15196-7}}
• {{cite book|title=So lügen Journalisten: der Kampf um Quoten und Auflagen|trans-title=Journalists Lie in Such a Way. The Fight for Ratios and Editions|publisher=Bertelsmann|year=2001|isbn=978-3-570-00199-8}}
• {{cite book|title=Gencode J: Roman|trans-title=Gene Code J.|publisher=Eichborn|year=2001|isbn=978-3-8218-0860-4}}
• {{cite book|title=Marktplatz der Diebe: wie die Wirtschaftsspionage deutsche Unternehmen ausplündert und ruiniert|trans-title=The thieving marketplace: How the business espionage looted and ruined German companies|publisher=Bertelsmann|year=1999|isbn=978-3-570-00198-1}}
• {{cite book|title=Verschlusssache BND|trans-title=Classified Material Federal Intelligence Service|publisher=Koehler und Amelang|year=1997|isbn=978-3-7338-0214-1}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website|http://www.ulfkotte.de/}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulfkotte, Udo}}

Category:1960 births

Category:2017 deaths

Category:20th-century German journalists

Category:20th-century German non-fiction writers

Category:21st-century German journalists

Category:21st-century German non-fiction writers

Category:Alumni of the University of London

Category:Counter-jihad activists

Category:Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung people

Category:German conspiracy theorists

Category:German critics of Islam

Category:German male journalists

Category:German male non-fiction writers

Category:German newspaper journalists

Category:German political writers

Category:Pegida activists

Category:People from Lippstadt

Category:University of Freiburg alumni