European Parliament President David Sassoli passed away at a hospital in Italy, his spokesman said in a tweet Tuesday. No  further details were mentioned in the tweet by spokesman Roberto Cuillo beyond Sassoli's death at 1:15 a.m Tuesday in Aviano, a city in northeastern Italy.

 Sassoli had been hospitalized since December 26 due to abnormal functioning of his immune system, Cuillo said in a statement released the day before Sassoli's death. "This hospitalisation was required due to a significant complication caused by immune system dysfunction," Cuillo said in a statement.

Sassoli, 65, was elected to the European Parliament for the first time in 2009. In 2014, he was re-elected and served as the Parliament's vice president. When lawmakers vote to appoint their next president later this month, he had decided not to seek for reelection.

The European Parliament, based in Strasbourg, France, represents the European Union's 450 million citizens and calls itself "the heart of European democracy." It is one of the EU's seven branches, with over 700 members directly chosen by member countries.

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