European Parliament President David Sassoli dies age 65 - CNN

On Monday, Cuillo said Sassoli had been in hospital in Italy since December 26, because of a serious complication due to a dysfunction of his immune system.

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

Sassoli, 65, has been president of the 705-seat parliament since 2019.

It is a largely ceremonial role and his term was due to end this month and he was not expected to seek a second one, according to Reuters.

Due to illness, he was unable to chair the Strasbourg-based parliament in recent weeks and missed the European Commission's annual state of the union event in September.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen paid tribute to Sassoli on Twitter.