David Sassoli, European Parliament President, dies at age 65

David Sassoli, the President of the European Parliament, died on Tuesday in an Italian hospital in Aviano, his spokesperson announced early morning. He was 65.

Sassoli had been admitted to the hospital since December 26, 2021 due to a “serious complication” related to his immune system, his office announced recently. 

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The tweet from spokesperson Roberto Cuillo read, “The @EP_President David Sassoli passed away at 1.15 am on 11 January at the CRO in Aviano( PN), Italy, where he was hospitalized. The date and place of the funeral will be communicated in the next few hours.”  

“This hospitalisation was necessary because of a serious complication due to a dysfunction of the immune system,” the statement announcing his hospital admission said.

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Sassoli, 65, suffered a severe case of pneumonia in September during a plenary session of the Parliament and had to be hospitalised. He returned to Italy to recover but had a relapse that kept him away from his duties for a while before he resumed his activities in November, according to reports from Associated Press.

Sassoli had been heading the European Parliament– a 705 seat European Union body– since 2019. Before that, he was as the Vice President of the Parliament after winning a term in 2014.

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However, a socialist member of the body, Sassoli had decided not to run for re-election when lawmakers vote to appoint their new president later this month.

Citing his health conditions, Sassoli was not able to head the parliamentary meeting in France’s Strasbourg and was also absent from the annual state of the union event of the European Commission, which was organised in September 2021.