David Sassoli European Parliament building inauguration

President Metsola, dear Roberta, Excellencies, Cara Alessandra, Giulio and Livia, David Sassoli was a true custodian of the values our Union was built on. The Parliament buildings are named after the men and women who moved Europe forward. Simone Veil. Altiero Spinelli. Willy Brandt. And more. The Pantheon of our European Union. And this is exactly where David Sassoli belongs. It is a bittersweet moment to see David's name on this building. But it also makes me think how lucky we were to meet him, to walk part of the way with him, and to call him friend. Let me share three memories with you. On the first day of my first mandate, David invited me and the other Presidents of European institutions to the House of European History. Towards the end of the tour, we stopped at the busts of our Union's founding fathers. From Monnet to De Gasperi. David said something simple and powerful – that...