RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday congratulated Greece’s parliament chief Constantine Tassoulas on his election as the country’s new president.

In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency, King Salman said he wished the new president every “success,” and for “the friendly people of Greece continued progress and prosperity.”

The crown prince issued a similar statement.

Tassoulas, 65, was elected with 160 votes in the 300-member parliament in the fourth round of voting on Wednesday.

Constantine Tassoulas, left, delivers a speech at the parliament building in Athens on February 12, 2025, after he was elected president of Greece. (Pool via REUTERS)

He replaces Katerina Sakellaropoulou, the first woman to serve as Greece’s head of state, who was not nominated for a second five-year term.

Tassoulas is a member of the governing center-right New Democracy party and a close ally of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. A lawyer by trade, he also served as culture minister a decade ago.