Italian Members Of European Parliament Pay Tribute To Late President Sassoli

Italian lawmakers of different political affiliations paid tribute to the late president of the European Parliament, social democrat David Sassoli, on Tuesday, describing him as a mild-mannered president with balanced and gracious leadership style

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2022) Italian lawmakers of different political affiliations paid tribute to the late president of the European Parliament, social democrat David Sassoli, on Tuesday, describing him as a mild-mannered president with balanced and gracious leadership style.

Earlier in the day, Sassoli's spokesman announced his death at the cancer center in the Italian city of Aviano. The late head of the EU legislature was hospitalized on December 26 due to a serious complication relating to immune system dysfunction.

"With him, Europe today loses an honest politician, a respectable person who has always carried out his mandate as President of the European Parliament with discipline and honor, and everyone in all political groups is grateful to him for this," Tiziana Beghin, the head of the delegation of Italy's Five Star Movement in the European Parliament and a political ally of Sassoli, told Sputnik.

Lawmaker Pietro Fiocchi, a member of the Fratelli d'Italia party and European Conservatives and Reformists Group, described Sassoli as "a very gentle and good-mannered person, open to discussion," while fondly remembering their conversations in the smoke room.

"As president of the assembly, he was not strong in an aggressive way, but he was strong in a very mild and well-mannered way, bringing home results for Europe. And when I say Europe, I mean it. A lot of times, he got much better results than people that were more vocal or aggressive than he was. He was not an 'Italian' president, he was a European president. For us, he was an adversary, but not an enemy!" Fiocchi told Sputnik.

Various EU, NATO and Italian officials have already offered their condolences. EU flags were lowered at the buildings of the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament.