Due to an immune system malfunction, the 65-year-old Italian had been extremely unwell in hospital for more than two weeks.
David Sassoli, the president of the European Parliament, died early Tuesday in an Italian hospital, according to his spokeswoman on Twitter. Due to an immune system malfunction, the 65-year-old Italian had been extremely unwell in hospital for more than two weeks. “David Sassoli passed away at the CRO in Aviano, Italy, where he was admitted at 1.15 a.m. on January 11th,” his spokesman Roberto Cuillo tweeted. “The funeral date and location will be announced in the coming hours.”
Cuillo had announced the termination of Sassoli’s official duties on Monday, saying the former television newsreader had been in hospital since December 26 owing to “a significant consequence due to an immune system failure.” Last September, Sassoli was committed to the hospital for several weeks due to pneumonia. The European Parliament sits for a five-year term in between elections, however, the president of the legislature only serves for half of that time.
Sassoli has already said he wouldn’t run for re-election. He was born in Florence, Italy, on May 30, 1956. Sassoli became a member of the European Parliament in 2009, and speaker in 2019, after a three-decade career as an Italian journalist, first in newspapers and then transferring to television and becoming a nationally recognized anchor. He was a member of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, the parliament’s second-largest political bloc after the European People’s Party. He had the title of president of the European legislature notwithstanding his job as speaker. ” II Presidente” was the traditional Italian greeting for his arrival in the chamber. Unlike some EU officials, who make public appearances in English or French, Sassoli makes a point of speaking Italian.
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