Germany's ruling coalition has tried to avoid the issue of Greece ahead of national elections on September 22, but the hot button issue is back with a vengeance after the country's finance minister said Athens would need a third bailout.
Just hours before the comments from Wolfgang Schaeuble, Chancellor Angela Merkel had said there was no point talking about Greece before the end of the year when its second bailout package will expire.
Speaking at a campaign event in Hamburg, Schaeuble said: "There will have to be another program in Greece" to help the country "get over the hill."
(Read more: German elections are a 'close call': Merkel)
It didn't take long for the opposition Social Democratic Party (SPD) to jump on the finance minister's faux pas.
Carsten Schneider, the SPD budget spokesman said Schaeuble had really "let the cat out of the bag."
"Now it's time for Frau Merkel to tell people the truth," Peer Steinbrueck, the leader of the opposition SPD party said.