European Parliament President David Sassoli died on Tuesday night at the age of 65 in his native Italy, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported.

Sassoli spokesman Roberto Cuyo said on Monday that Sassoli had been hospitalized on December 26th with "complications related to severe immune dysfunction." Many politicians have already expressed their condolences. "Goodbye, David, lifelong friend," tweeted Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini.

Sassoli was a member of the center-left Democratic Party. On Monday, his spokesman said Sassoli, who was being treated at an oncology center in the Italian city of Aviano, had canceled all official events planned with him. In October, Sassoli already missed a European Parliament session due to high temperature. He had previously suffered from severe pneumonia.

A spokesman said the date and place of the funeral would be announced in the next few hours. Sassoli headed the European Parliament after the 2019 elections. As President of the European Parliament, he replaced his compatriot Antonio Tajani of the conservative Forza Italy party. From 2014 to 2019, Sassoli was Vice-President of the European Parliament.

Prior to his political career, Sassoli worked as a journalist. His professional career began in small dailies. In 1985 he joined the editorial board of the Roman newspaper Il Giorno. Later, Sassoli became the host of the news program TG1 on the Italian public television channel Rai 1, writes Frankfurter Allgemeine.

/Focus