It will be a state funeral and will be held in Rome on Friday at 12 to greet the President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, who died on Monday night at the age of 65 , the first in the history of the Assembly to die while in office.
Today the go-ahead from the Council of Ministers.
The journalist, who for months had been suffering from various ailments including pneumonia (not due to Covid), was hospitalized since December 26 in the Oncological Reference Center of Aviano, in the province of Pordenone. His condition worsened due to a "serious complication due to a dysfunction of the immune system", as certified by the institute of Aviano.
THE MEMORY - "His death opens a void in the ranks of those who believed in and built a Europe of peace", the memory of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella. From Enrico Letta to Ursula von der Leyen, from Prime Minister Mario Draghi to dozens of MEPs: all recalled, in the words of Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, the "democratic and pro-European" leadership of "a clear, generous, cheerful, popular man" , while in Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg the European institutions hoisted the blue flag with golden stars at half mast.
Even the Regional Council of Sardinia today observed a minute of silence for the untimely death.
Addio al presidente del Parlamento europeo David Sassoli
The funeral home will be open in the Capitol on Thursday from 10 to 18 while the state funeral will be held in the Basilica of S. Maria degli Angeli in Piazza della Repubblica. The presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel will also participate.
On Monday at the Strasbourg Plenary it will be former Prime Minister Enrico Letta to give the official speech to commemorate his friend and colleague of the Democratic Party. Yesterday in the Aula Draghi remarked on Sassoli's "rare ability" to "combine idealism and mediation", his "attentive and authoritative voice, in defense of European values and the rights of the weakest" which "it is now up to us to continue to defend ". Condolences also from Pope Francis for a man who "did his utmost for the common good".
A very popular face of Tg1 and an MEP for three terms, Sassoli had left journalism for politics in 2009. Some time ago he had already had to deal with the disease, undergoing a bone marrow transplant for myeloma.
(Unioneonline / D)