Szens of a coalition, act one: On the government bench of the Bundestag, the face of the Green Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock freezes. It’s March 14th, parliament is debating whether Germany should deliver the Taurus cruise missile to Ukraine, and SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich has just detonated an explosive device at the desk. Because Mützenich not only opposes the wish of the FDP and the Greens to make this weapon available to Ukraine. He keeps going. He discusses how the war in Ukraine can be “freezed”. Baerbock sits there motionless, a tiny shake of her head is her only reaction. The way the Greens describe the situation in Ukraine, Mützenich’s “freeze” is a cipher for what they definitely don’t want: a dictated peace in which Russia retains its conquests.
Act two: Just a few hours later, Baerbock stands in front of the flags of Germany, Europe and Norway in the press room of the Foreign Office. It was actually quite a pleasant meeting with the Norwegian Foreign Minister; they agreed on many things. But then she is asked about Taurus. She goes into great detail, speaks of the dramatic situation in Ukraine and refers to a motion in which the traffic light coalition with the votes of the SPD called for the delivery of long-range weapons some time ago. Then it happens: In order to comply with this request from our own majority, we need “a common attitude and line, of course also in our cabinet”. At the end, Baerbock then adds: “As we saw in the Bundestag debate today: we are not there yet.” A declaration of war on the SPD.
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