The president of the European Parliament, the socialist David Sassoli, died at dawn this Tuesday in Italy in a hospital where he was admitted two weeks ago, as confirmed to Europa Press by his spokesman, Roberto Cuillo.
Sassoli, 65, died at 1:15 a.m. this Tuesday at the Oncology Reference Center in the city of Aviano, located in the province of Pordenone, in the northeast of the country. For his part, Cuillo has detailed that “in the next few hours” an official statement will be published in which the time and place of the funeral will also be detailed.
The President of the European Parliament had been hospitalized since December 26 for a serious complication caused by a dysfunction of the immune system, as reported by the institution on Monday.
After the news of his hospitalization was known, important members of the European institutions demonstrated showing messages of concern and support for Sassoli.
This is the case of the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who had indicated through her profile on the social network Twitter that her “thoughts” were with the president as he struggled to improve his health.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, had expressed himself along the same lines, who had also sent encouragement to Sassoli with a message in three languages where he wished him “strength and courage” and conveyed his “best wishes”.
Similarly, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, had published a message wishing the president a “prompt and good recovery” and conveying his desire to see him “soon” again in the chamber.
The president of the European Parliament already had to be urgently hospitalized last September in Strasbourg, in the northeast of France, due to severe pneumonia that occurred while he was in the French city to preside over the plenary session.
Later, he was transferred to Italy to continue his recovery and it was not until two months later, in November, when he was able to attend again in person to chair a meeting of the organization.
Precisely in the plenary session this January, scheduled for next week, the MEPs are expected to elect Sassoli’s replacement in the Presidency of the European Parliament for the second half of the legislature.
Sassoli, an MEP since 2009, was appointed in July 2019 as President of the European Parliament, succeeding the Italian Antonio Tajani.
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