Former President of Cyprus Demetris Christofias has been hospitalized and is in “critical but stable condition,” a Ministry of Health official told state radio here on Tuesday.

A ministry statement had earlier said that Christofias was taken to Nicosia General Hospital on Saturday and has been in the intensive care unit since Monday night “because of a considerable respiratory aggravation.”

The ministry said that a specialist was brought in from Israel and a medical council would be convened.

President Nicos Anastasiades visited Christofias in hospital on Monday night and later said that the former president is “going through difficult hours.”

Christofias, former secretary general of the left-wing AKEL party, was president from 2008 to 2013.