Jan van Aken | |
|---|---|
 van Aken in 2025 | |
| Leader ofThe Left | |
| Assumed office 19 October 2024 Serving with Ines Schwerdtner | |
| Preceded by | Janine Wissler |
| Member of theBundestag forHamburg | |
| Assumed office 25 March 2025 | |
| Constituency | The Left Party List |
| In office 27 October 2009 – 24 October 2017 | |
| Constituency | The Left Party List |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1961-05-01)1 May 1961 (age 64) |
| Political party | The Left (since 2007) |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | University of Hamburg (Dip,PhD) |
| Occupation | Biologist •Politician |
Jan Paul van Aken (born 1 May 1961) is a Germanbiologist and politician. He has been co-leader ofThe Left since October 2024[1] and amember of the German Bundestag since2025, a position he held previously from2009 to2017.
He is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Subcommittee on Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation in the German Bundestag. Van Akenentered 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.
_und_Jan_van_Aken_(MdB).jpg)
After completing hisAbitur in 1982, van Aken studiedbiology at theUniversity of Hamburg.[2] After completing hisDiploma inbiology in 1989 he got a Ph.D. in 1993. He worked as a scientist at theUniversity of Hamburg. From 1997 to 2009 he was the resident expert ongenetic engineering for the environmental organizationGreenpeace.[2] Also during this time, from 2004 until 2006, he worked as abiological weapons inspector for theUnited Nations.[3] His long-standing interest in biological warfare agents had already led him in 1999 to call for their banning as part of theSunshine 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 theLeft Party and became, only three years later, the lead candidate of the party in Hamburg during the2009 German federal election.
Van Aken was ordered in April 2013 by theLüneburg 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]
From 2009 to 2011, van Aken was the deputy chairperson for the parliamentary faction of the Left Party in the Bundestag, and since 2012, he has been their foreign policy spokesperson.[3] He has since stepped down in 2017.[6]
Since quitting his role as MoP, van Aken has been working at theGeneva office of theRosa Luxemburg Foundation as part of the global health programme.[7]
Since October 2024 he has been federal chairman of the Left Party, alongsideInes Schwerdtner.[8]
He was one of the dual leading candidates for The Left in the2025 German federal election, along withHeidi Reichinnek.[9] In this election, the Left Party gained an additional 25 seats in the Bundestag, raising the number of its seats from 39 to 64.[10]
Van Aken considers the position on migration policy advocated byFriedrich Merz (CDU), to applydenaturalisation (which would require an amendment to theGerman Basic Law[11]) in cases where people withmultiple citizenship commit multiple crimes after obtainingGerman citizenship[12] as racist.[13]
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