Italy on Friday said goodbye to
European Parliament President David Sassoli with a State funeral
at Rome's Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri Church.
The Florence-born journalist-turned-politician died at the age
of 65 on Tuesday after being hospitalized on December 26 with
serious complications related to an immune-system dysfunction.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European
Council President Charles Michel, Italian President Sergio
Mattarella, Premier Mario Draghi and Spanish Prime Minister
Pedro Sanchez were among the officials attending the funeral.
Sassoli's coffin was carried into the church draped in the flag
of the EU.
A political science graduate from Rome University, Sassoli
worked for several newspapers before joining RAI in 1992.
He worked his way up the State broadcaster and became a news
reader for its flagship TG1 news show.
He entered the political fray in 2009, getting elected as an MEP
for the centre-left Democratic Party (PD).
He was elected president of the European Parliament in 2019
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