Olaf Scholz was granted a little breather after the strenuous year.
Sure: The pandemic development always requires the full attention of a Chancellor, but major problems did not materialize over the Christmas period.
Nevertheless, the skirmish over Germany's arms export policy shows the difficult terrain Scholz has to go through with his traffic light coalition.
Shortly before the rise from Vice Chancellor to “Boss”, he and the CDU Chancellor agreed to record arms exports;
a particularly large amount is delivered to Egypt, which has been criticized for its human rights policy.
The two Greens chairmen Habeck and Baerbock still only let out a grumble with the authority of their ministerial offices.
But it clearly shows that the two leading Green politicians, because of the party and the electorate, will have to insist on taking a different course in arms exports than the grand coalition.
It is even more difficult for the Chancellor to reconcile the clearly left-wing SPD parliamentary group with the message that a large industrialized country like Germany is selling ugly weapons to unpleasant regimes.
How long will the enthusiasm for the Chancellery in Scholz's troops ensure calm in this field too?