Former president of Portugal passes away

The former President of Portugal Jorge Sampaio has passed away at the age of 81, Report informs referring to The Portugal News.

The former head of state had been hospitalized with breathing difficulties since Aug. 27 at the Hospital de Santa Cruz in Lisbon.

Sampaio was in the Algarve, but after experiencing respiratory difficulties, and ‘given his history of being a heart patient,’ he was transferred to Lisbon.

Jorge Sampaio, 81 years old, was President of the Republic for two terms, between 1996 and 2006.

In 1989 he was elected leader of the Socialist Party, and at the same time, he was elected mayor of Lisbon, having been re-elected in 1993.

After serving as President of the Republic, he was appointed in 2006 by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Special Envoy for the Fight against Tuberculosis, and between 2007 and 2013, he was the UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations.