Brussels, 10 January 2025 (dpa/MIA) - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was hospitalized for a week with severe pneumonia but has since returned home, dpa has learned.

Von der Leyen posted a photo on Instagram on Friday showing her working from home, with the caption "Home sweet home... office!"

The 66-year-old spent around a week in the University Hospital in the central German city of Hanover, dpa learned.

The commission said von der Leyen was not in intensive care and had been in daily contact with her team while in hospital.

A commission spokesman had previously said von der Leyen was suffering from severe pneumonia and had cancelled all travel plans for the first two weeks of January.

The spokesman said the German conservative politician was carrying out "official business" from her home city of Hanover and that if all went well she would return to work from her office in the commission building in Brussels in the middle of the month.

It was not communicated that von der Leyen was in hospital, leading many to assume she was working from her home in the village of Beinhorn, near Hanover.

Von der Leyen reportedly spoke on the phone with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni before the Italian leader's meeting at the weekend with US President-elect Donald Trump in Florida.

On Saturday, she plans to speak to new Austrian interim Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg.

Von der Leyen's spokeswoman said it would be decided at the beginning of next week whether the commission president would be able to lead the weekly meeting of EU commissioners next Wednesday.

Pneumonia is an inflammation of the lung tissue, often caused by infections by bacteria, viruses or, more rarely, fungi. It can affect one or both lungs and varies in severity from mild to life-threatening, depending on the cause and the health of the person affected.

Photo: MIA Archive