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Jan Paul van Aken (born 1 May 1961) is a German biologist and politician. He has been co-leader of The Left since October 2024[1] and a member of the German Bundestag since 2025, a position he held previously from 2009 to 2017.
He is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Subcommittee on Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation in the German Bundestag. Van Aken entered the 17th Bundestag in 2009 after he was listed on the Left electoral lists in Hamburg.[1] From 2009 to 2011, van Aken was the deputy chairperson for the parliamentary faction of the Left.
After completing his Abitur in 1982, van Aken studied biology at the University of Hamburg.[2] After completing his Diplom in biology in 1989 he got a PhD in 1993. He worked as a scientist at the University of Hamburg. From 1997 to 2009 he was the resident expert on genetic engineering for the environmental organization Greenpeace.[2] Also during this time, from 2004 until 2006, he worked as a biological weapons inspector for the United Nations.[3] His long-standing interest in biological warfare agents had already led him in 1999 to call for their banning as part of the Sunshine Project, which was followed by the establishment of a research institute with similar objectives in 2003. After his return to Hamburg as part of his work with the UN, he joined the Left Party and became, only three years later, the lead candidate of the party in Hamburg during the 2009 German federal election.
Van Aken was ordered in April 2013 by the Lüneburg District Court to pay a fine of €2,250 for a "public provocation to commit a crime" because he signed the "Castor, schottern" petition calling for the sabotage of railroads in protest against the transport of nuclear waste.[4][5]
2009年から2011年まで、ファン・アーケンは連邦議会の左翼党の議会会派の副議長を務め、2012年からは同党の外交政策担当報道官を務めていた。[ 3 ]その後、2017年に辞任した。[ 6 ]
ヴァン・アケンは、MoPの職を辞任して以来、グローバルヘルスプログラムの一環として、ローザ・ルクセンブルク財団のジュネーブ事務所で働いている。 [ 7 ]この間、ヴァン・アケンはイスラエルのヤッファで家族と2年間暮らした。[ 8 ]
2024年10月以来、彼はイネス・シュヴェルトナーと共に左翼党の連邦議長を務めている。[ 9 ]
彼は、ハイディ・ライヒネックとともに、2025年のドイツ連邦議会選挙で左翼党の二大有力候補の一人だった。[ 10 ]この選挙で、左翼党は連邦議会でさらに25議席を獲得し、議席数を39から64に増やした。[ 11 ]
ファン・アケンは、フリードリヒ・メルツ（キリスト教民主同盟）が提唱する移民政策の立場、すなわち、ドイツ国籍を取得した後に複数の犯罪を犯した多重国籍保持者に対して国籍剥奪（ドイツ基本法[ 12 ]の改正が必要となる）を適用するという立場を人種差別的だと考えている[ 13 ]。[ 14 ]