What is known in military jargon as “friendly fire” also happened in the war in Ukraine: soldiers accidentally shoot at their comrades.
In Berlin, in the dispute over how Ukraine must be helped against the Russian invasion, fire is also being fired at its own ranks, albeit with full intention.
The main target of the coalition's internal criticism is none other than the chancellor.
Scholz is the problem, and not only as a brake on arms deliveries, but also on other issues of European cooperation.
These sentences come from the chairman of the Europe Committee in the Bundestag, Anton Hofreiter.
With the greatest possible openness, he thanks him for not having been involved in cabinet discipline as a minister.
Of course, he is not the only Green who criticizes that Scholz is missing the appointed leadership.
And voices are also growing louder in the FDP, accusing the chancellor of hesitating too long on the urgent weapons issue.
The Red Eminence Mützenich
When it comes to war and peace, you don't want a hothead as head of government.
But Scholz threatens to lose the discourse sovereignty in the coalition.
It is even questionable whether he still has them in his own party.
The SPD is tormented by the Ukrainian desire for heavy weapons from Germany.
The Red Eminence Mützenich immediately condemned the "irresponsible" demands from the ranks of the Greens and FDP not to hesitate any longer with the delivery of tanks.
The war in Ukraine is increasingly becoming a stress test for the cohesion and the ability of the traffic light coalition to act.
In it, the “turning point” meets old, peace-moving thinking, which is slowly gathering again after the initial shock, with changes in position that are still hard to believe.
But Putin's war leaves Berlin no time to endlessly discuss its own sensitivities.
The hesitation must come to an end.
Only the chancellor can bring about this turning point.