European Parliament President David Sassoli had been ill for several weeks due to a “serious complication” related to his immune system and he died in hospital on Tuesday morning
European Parliament President David Sassoli died on Tuesday in Italy (
Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
European Parliament President David Sassoli died on Tuesday in hospital in Italy where he had been seriously ill for over two weeks.
The 65-year-old Italian was admitted into hospital on December 26 due to a dysfunction of his immune system.
He died at 1.15am his spokesperson, Roberto Cuillo, stated on Tuesday morning.
“David Sassoli passed away at 1.15 am on 11 January at the CRO in Aviano, Italy, where he was hospitalized,” Mr Cuillo tweeted.
“The date and place of the funeral will be communicated in the next few hours.”
Sassoli, an Italian socialist and former journalist from Florence, had been hospitalised last month due to a “serious complication” related to his immune system, his office had said on Monday.
Sassoli had been ill in hospital for several weeks
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Image:
Getty Images)
He was previously admitted with pneumonia for several weeks last September.
He had been president of the 705-seat parliament since 2019.
In his inaugural speech, Sassoli had urged Europeans to counter the “virus” of extreme nationalism and called for a reform of EU rules on migration and political asylum.
His term in the predominantly ceremonial role had been due to end this month.
Due to illness, he had been unable to chair the Strasbourg-based parliament in recent weeks and had missed the European Commission’s annual state of the union event in September.
He began his career in journalism in newspapers and then television
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Image:
AFP via Getty Images)
After a three-decade career as an Italian journalist, starting out in newspapers then moving to television and becoming a nationally known anchor, Sassoli became a member of the European Parliament in 2009, and speaker in 2019.
He was a member of the centre-left Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, the second-biggest grouping in the parliament after the centre-right European People’s Party.
Although his role was that of speaker, he had the title of president of the European legislature. His arrival in the chamber was traditionally announced in Italian as “Il Presidente”.
Unlike some EU officials, who speak in English and French in public appearances, Sassoli had made a point of using Italian.
On Tuesday next week, MEPs are expected to hold the first round of voting for his successor.
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