ATHENS – [Photo: Hellenic Parliament]
Konstantinos Tassoulas became the ninth President of the Hellenic Republic on March 13. He succeeds Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Greece’s first woman President and former Chief Justice of the Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court.
A member of the ruling New Democracy party, an MP since 2000, and a former Parliament Speaker, Tassoulas was elected on February 12, receiving 160 votes from the 300-member Parliament.
The new President was welcomed by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the current Parliament Speaker Nikitas Kaklamanis. After the ceremony, officiated by Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and then made his way to the Presidential Mansion.
“I will make every effort, as President of all Greeks, to uphold the Constitution, safeguard national integrity, and protect the interests of the Greek people”, Greece’s new President said during a handover ceremony at the Presidential Mansion.
He was born in the city of Ioannina in 1959 and studied law at Athens University. He has also served as deputy Defense Minister and Culture minister, as well as Mayor of Kifissia.
