Gerhard Schröder, Germany’s controversial former Chancellor, is being treated for signs of burnout. Schröder is “suffering from severe burnout syndrome with the typical signs of profound exhaustion and a pronounced lack of energy,” Germany’s DPA news agency reported, citing his doctor. According to his lawyer Hans-Peter Huber, the former chancellor, a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), enrolled in therapeutic therapy based on his doctor’s advise.

Schröder’s links with Russia were heavily condemned.

The 80-year-old former chancellor held the position from 1998 to 2005 and led Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left SPD from 1999 to 2004. He had a strong relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and was heavily connected with Russian state-owned energy corporations following his stint as chancellor. Schröder, who has been heavily attacked for his Russian ties, was scheduled to appear before a parliamentary commission of investigation in Germany’s northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania last month, but he did not show up, citing illness.

The investigation focused on his involvement on the board of directors in charge of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, which connects Russia and Germany. The pipeline was never put into service, despite Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Later the same year, Nord Stream 2 was destroyed by underwater explosions in the Baltic Sea. Following the Russian full-scale Ukraine incursion, Schröder was unwilling to totally distance himself from Moscow and Putin, which estranged him from Berlin’s political elite as well as his own SPD party.