SYRIZA MEPs on Sassoli's death: 'A friend of Greece and supporter of the European idea'

Syriza's Europarliament group said that the Italian social democrat "was a friend of Greece, a supporter of the European idea, and a progressive, and he played a decisive role in ensuring the smooth operation of the European Parliament during the coronavirus pandemic." It added that he was also "a visionary who significantly upgraded the Europarliament's role through processes like the Conference for the Future of Europe meetings and NextGenerationEU."

The late Europarliament chief also moved fast from the start of the pandemic to organize distant voting and initiate obligatory distance working, while he also turned over the use of abandoned offices at the European Parliament in Strasbourg and Brussels to organizations preparing meals for needy families, the main opposition party's MEPs said.