David Sassoli, the president of the European Parliament, died on Tuesday in Italy, his spokesman and the parliament’s office in Washington said. He was 65, New York Times reports.
The office said in a post on Twitter that Mr. Sassoli had died in the Italian town of Aviano.
No cause of death was immediately available. But he was hospitalized with severe pneumonia during a plenary session of the Parliament in September and later returned to Italy to recover, The Associated Press reported.
Mr. Sassoli was hospitalized again on Dec. 26 because his immune system was not functioning normally, Mr. Sassoli’s spokesman, Roberto Cuillo, said on Monday on social media.
Mr. Sassoli led the European Parliament, which approves or rejects legislation, establishes budgets and supervises a variety of institutions within the European Union. Its 700-plus members serve five-year terms; the next election wis in 2024.
