European Parliament President David Sassoli has been hospitalized in Strasbourg since last Wednesday with pneumonia, but “his condition is good,” his spokesman said today.
The 65-year-old Italian politician did not chair the plenary session of the European Parliament on Wednesday and did not attend the annual speech of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the “state of the Union”.
Sassoli was admitted to hospital on Wednesday night, September 15. Doctors diagnosed him with pneumonia and “immediately gave him the appropriate treatment,” said his spokesman, Roberto Quillo.
Last week, Quillo reported that Sassoli had a fever on Tuesday night through Wednesday and was tested negative for Covid-19.
European Council President Charles Michel wished him a “speedy recovery” by posting on Twitter.
Rimettiti presto caro Davide. @EP_President
Wishing you a very speedy recovery. Take care.
– Charles Michel (@eucopresident) September 20, 2021
David Sassoli, a former journalist and news anchor in Italy, was elected MEP in 2009 with the center-left. In 2019, another Italian, Antonio Tagiani of the European People's Party, succeeded him as President of the European Parliament.
The election of the new President of the European Parliament will take place next January. The leader of the EPP, the German Manfred Weber, will not be a candidate, but he asks the new president to come from his own political family, in implementation of an agreement reached by the political groups in 2019.
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