Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic stated on Tuesday that the death of the European Parliament President David Sassoli was a huge loss for the European Union and Italy.

The Croatian PM wrote on his Twitter account that he was saddened by the news about the death of EP President Sassoli.

The premier expressed condolence to Sassoli’s family and to the European Parliament.

Plenkovic tweeted that Sassoli was a great friend of Croatia and had given a strong contribution to the strengthening of the European democracy.

Sassoli, 65, passed away at 1.15 am on 11 January at the CRO in Aviano (PN), Italy, where he was hospitalized, his spokesman reported on Tuesday morning.

This Italian Social Democrat had been struggling for months with poor health.

The spokesman had announced on Monday afternoon that Sassoli had been in hospital since December 26 “because of a serious complication due to a disfunction of the immune system.”