Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder receiving treatment for burnout

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who has faced heavy criticism in recent years for his Russian connections, has reportedly been hospitalised and is receiving treatment for burnout.

A doctor’s assessment had diagnosed Schröder as “suffering from severe burnout syndrome with the typical signs of profound exhaustion and a pronounced lack of energy,” German news agency dpa reported.

Schröder’s lawyer, Hans-Peter Huber, said he had gone into clinical treatment on the doctor’s advice.

Schröder, now 80 years old, led Germany from 1998 to 2005, and was the leader of current Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party between 1999 and 2004.

In recent years, he has become a controversial figure thanks to his involvement with Russian state-owned energy companies.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he has been reluctant to entirely distance himself from Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he has long had a friendly relationship. As a result, he has become increasingly estranged from the German political establishment.

Last month, Schröder was due to appear before a parliamentary inquiry looking into the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, whose board of directors he headed, but did not appear due to illness.

Nord Stream 2 never went into service and was damaged by underwater explosions in the Baltic Sea in September 2022.