A foreign ministry room will be renamed after David Sassoli to honour the European Parliament president, who died in his homeland of Italy on Tuesday after a months-long struggle with ill health.
"To keep his memory alive, also within the foreign ministry, I have decided to rename the European Treaties Room The David Sassoli European Treaties Room," said foreign minister Luigi Di Maio in a video message.
"It's a small sign of recognition in memory of a friend and a personality who made a mark on Italian and European politics. Bye David!" the message concluded.
Sassoli's death at 65 in a hospital in the northeast city of Aviano after being admitted on Boxing Day with an 'immune system deficiency' "leaves a void in European politics that is hard to fill," Di Maio said in an earlier part of his video message.
"His ideas, is committed Europeanism, his humanity, his moral probity and his grace were hallmarks of his personality," Di Maio went on.
Di Maio also lauded Sassoli, a former journalist, for his stewardship since 2019 of the European Parliament, where he was first elected MEP in 2009 for Italy's centre-left Democratic Party.
"Other distinguishing features were the wisdom and authority with which he guided the European Parliament's work during these difficult past few years of the pandemic," Di Maio stated.
