EU Parliament President Sassoli dies: “Ciao David”

EU Parliament President Sassoli passed away unexpectedly – at the age of 65. His death caused dismay in his home country. The trained journalist was considered a balancing character.

In his home country, David Sassoli’s death caused consternation. “Ciao David, lifelong friend,” wrote Italy’s Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini on Twitter.

Sassoli was last treated in Italy in a cancer center in the Friuli region. According to his spokesman, the President of the European Parliament was hospitalized in December because of “a serious complication due to a dysfunction of the immune system”. In September, the 65-year-old Sassoli had to be hospitalized for pneumonia.

First a TV journalist, then a politician

Before entering politics in Italy, the social democrat worked for a long time as a television journalist. Many of his compatriots still remember Sassoli as the presenter of the main RAI news program, which the native Florentine presented for several years.

In the early 2000s, Sassoli was exposed to political pressure under the then Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The trained political scientist then ran for the European Parliament in 2009, supported among others by the then party leader of the social democratic PD, Walter Veltroni.

Tough course against Poland and Hungary

Sassoli received the most personal preference votes of all Italian candidates in the 2009 European elections. Sassoli was elected President of the EU Parliament in 2019. He was seen as a balancing personality who also sought dialogue with political opponents – with commitment, however, Sassoli demanded, for example, penalties for Poland and Hungary as a consequence of the legal violations alleged against them.

In one of his last public appearances in December, Sassoli appealed in Brussels that Europe should not let up in its efforts to emerge stronger from the Covid crisis together.

Practicing Catholic

Dealing with refugees was also an important issue for Sassoli. As President of Parliament, he criticized the isolationist policies of many EU member states. The social democrat Sassoli was a practicing Catholic; as a teenager he had been involved in Catholic youth groups.

Sassoli’s spokesman writes on Twitter that the time and place of the funeral of the President of the European Parliament will be announced during the day.