Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) has been hospitalised for a second time within a few days for pain in the lower back. The government announced on Monday morning that the pain which had emerged late Thursday had returned Sunday night.
Vanhanen spent Thursday night in hospital. The reason for the pain was a urolith, or kidney stone between three and four millimetres in diameter in Vanhanen's urinary tract.
The stone was removed and Vanhanen returned to work on Saturday. The pain came back on Sunday night and he was hospitalised again.
During Vanhanen's absence the Prime Minister's duties will be taken over by Minister of Finance Jyrki Katainen (Nat. Coalition Party).
Vanhanen had been scheduled to meet with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi in Rome on Monday, but the meeting was cancelled already on Friday.
Government head of communications Asko Mattila could not say on Monday morning how the Prime Minister's illness might affect the rest of his schedule. Vanhanen was to have travelled to Moscow on November 27th to meet with Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov.
