European Parliament President David Sassoli, who has been seriously ill for two weeks now, died in hospital on Tuesday, according to his spokesman, Roberto Cuillo. The Italian politician was 65 years old.

According to a tweet posted by Roberto Cuillo, Mr Sassoli died at 1.15 am on Tuesday, at the hospital in the Italian town of Aviano, in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region.

The @EP_President David Sassoli passed away at 1.15 am on 11 January at the CRO in Aviano( PN), Italy, where he was hospitalized. The date and place of the funeral will be communicated in the next few hours.

— RobertoCuillo (@robertocuillo) January 11, 2022

The date and place of the funeral will be communicated in the next few hours, he added.