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Mario Czaja (born 21 September 1975) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag since the 2021 elections.
Czaja served as the party's Secretary General from 2022 to 2023, under the leadership of Friedrich Merz. From 2006 until 2021, he was a member of the State Parliament of Berlin.
From 2011 to 2016 Czaja was also member of the Senate of Berlin, the government body of Berlin, with responsibility for health care and social issues.Melissa Eddy and Katarina Johannsen (26 November 2015), Migrants Arriving in Germany Face a Chaotic Reception in Berlin New York Times. At the time, he was the youngest member of the state government led by Governing Mayor Michael Müller.Marina Mai (5 February 2013), Der nette Senator von nebenan Die Tageszeitung.
In 2012, Czaja – together fellow state ministers Frank Henkel and Thomas Heilmann – unsuccessfully advocated for a reduction in the penalty-free personal use of cannabis from 15 to six grams.Konrad Litschko (22 May 2012), Gras: Breitseite gegen Kiffer Die Tageszeitung. Also during his time in office, he appointed former state government members Eberhard Diepgen, Heidi Knake-Werner, Ingrid Stahmer and Wolfgang Wieland as advisors on the city's migration policies in 2014.Thomas Lackmann (24 November 2014), Debatte um Flüchtlinge: Ehemalige Senatsmitglieder bilden Beirat für Zusammenhalt Der Tagesspiegel. In 2016, Czaja cancelled the government's contract with one of the city's largest operators of hostels for asylum seekers after newspapers B.Z. and Bild printed internal emails showing the company's managers joking about building a guillotine and crematorium for refugee children.Guy Chazan (16 August 2016), Berlin refugee hostel staff tied to crude emails Financial Times.
Czaja was a CDU delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2017.Hildburg Bruns (7 December 2016), Wahl im Februar: Diese Berliner wählen den Bundespräsidenten B.Z..
From 2018 until 2021, Czaja served as his parliamentary group's deputy chair, under the leadership of Burkard Dregger. During that time, he was also a member of the Committee on Education, Youth and Families. Mario Czaja State Parliament of Berlin.
Ahead of the Christian Democrats' leadership election in 2022, Czaja publicly endorsed Friedrich Merz to succeed Laschet as the party's chair and joined his campaign team.Julius Betschka and Hannes Heine (16 November 2021), Mario Czaja im Team von Friedrich Merz: Berliner Ex-Senator könnte Generalsekretär der Bundes-CDU werden Der Tagesspiegel.
Also in 2021, Czaja publicly criticized the chairman of the CDU in Berlin, Kai Wegner, as being too right-wing, arguing that he was "closer to Hans-Georg Maaßen than Angela Merkel and Armin Laschet."Hannes Heine (4 May 2021), Maaßen-Streit erreicht Berliner CDU: Mario Czaja greift Spitzenkandidat Kai Wegner für „riskanten Rechtskurs" an Der Tagesspiegel.
In 1997, a court ordered Czaja – who was 21 years old at the time – to pay a fine of 2,000 Deutsche Mark for desertion after he had twice failed to report for duty in the Bundeswehr. The prosecution had originally demanded a suspended sentence of four months. Richter bestätigt Urteil gegen Mario Czaja: CDU-Politiker muß Geldstrafe bezahlen Berliner Zeitung, 30 July 1997.
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