David Sassoli, President of the European Parliament, dies at 65

(CNN) – President of the European Parliament, David SassoliHe died in Italy, according to a tweet from his spokesperson posted early Tuesday local time.

David Sassoli, President of the European Parliament, has died at the age of 65.

“EP_ President David Sassoli died at 1:15 am on January 11 at the CRO in Aviano (PN), Italy, where he was taken to hospital. The date and location of the funeral will be announced in the next few hours,” wrote Roberto Coelho.

Coelho said on Monday that Sassoli had been hospitalized in Italy since Dec. 26 due to serious complications related to a defect in his immune system.

Citing his office, Reuters reported that David Sassoli, a center-left Italian politician, was also treated in a French hospital for pneumonia in September.

Sassoli, 65, has been speaker of the 705-seat parliament since 2019. His term is due to expire this month and he was not expected to run for a second term, according to Reuters.

Due to illness, David Sassoli has been unable to lead the Strasbourg-based parliament in recent weeks and has missed the annual European Union event organized by the European Commission in September.

With information from Reuters