A veteran conservative lawmaker is sworn in as Greece’s new president

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Greece’s New President Constantine Tassoulas, center, takes an oath next to Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronimos as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stands on the right during the swearing in ceremony at the Parliament, in Athens, Greece, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

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Greece’s new President Constantine Tassoulas, right, takes an oath next to Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronimos during the swearing in ceremony at the Parliament, in Athens, Greece, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

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Greece’s New President Constantine Tassoulas, left, thanks the members of Holy Synod, as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stands next to him after his swearing in ceremony at the Parliament, in Athens, Greece, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

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Greece’s New President Constantine Tassoulas, top center, takes an oath during the swearing in ceremony at the Parliament, in Athens, Greece, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

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Greece’s new President Constantine Tassoulas, top center, takes an oath during the swearing in ceremony at the Parliament, in Athens, Greece, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

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Greece’s New President Constantine Tassoulas stands during the swearing in ceremony at the Parliament, in Athens, Greece, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

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Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, right, hugs the new President Constantine Tassoulas during the swearing in ceremony at the Parliament, in Athens, Greece, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

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Outgoing Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, right, and the new President Constantine Tassoulas stand for the national anthem during the handover ceremony at the presidential palace in Athens, Greece, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Yannis Kolesidis/Pool via AP)

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Outgoing Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, center right, and the new President Constantine Tassoulas, center left, stand for the national anthem during the handover ceremony at the presidential palace in Athens, Greece, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Yannis Kolesidis/Pool via AP)

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Veteran conservative lawmaker Constantine Tassoulas was sworn in as Greece’s new president Thursday, as the government grapples with lingering public anger over a deadly rail disaster two years ago.

The 65-year-old lawyer and former parliamentary speaker will serve a five-year term in a largely ceremonial role. He succeeds Katerina Sakellaropoulou, a retired senior judge and the first woman to hold the office.

A stalwart conservative, Tassoulas’ election marks a departure from the tradition of seeking cross-party consensus for the presidency.

The center-right government is still dealing with the fallout from a 2023 rail collision that killed 57 people, which sparked strikes and mass protests over a perceived lack of political accountability.

At Thursday’s ceremony, presidential guards in pleated kilts, red caps, and billowing shirts slow-marched past a makeshift memorial outside parliament. The tribute, adorned with candles and flowers, featured the names of the victims scrawled in red paint.

At a handover ceremony, Tassoulas pledged to promote national unity and praised a proposed initiative to bolster Europe’s defense capabilities in response to increasing security threats.

Not PARSE.LY: Rail accidents

Rescue workers transport a coffin containing the body of a victim from a passenger train attacked by insurgents, upon arrival at a railway station in Much, Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, Thursday March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Pakistan’s leader meets survivors of deadly train hijack and the commandos who ended the siege

An injured passenger, rescued by security forces from a passenger train attacked by insurgents, is carried on a stretcher after arriving on a special train for the wounded and survivors, organized by the army, at a railway station in Much, in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Pakistan says insurgents who attacked a passenger train killed 21 hostages while all others freed

In this picture, taken from video, flames blaze after a collision of a tanker truck with a tram in Ubstadt-Weiher, Germany, Tuesdsay, March 11, 2025. (Rene Priebe/dpa via AP)

A tanker and a tram collided at a crossing in Germany, killing 3 people

“The European Union is finally moving toward strengthening its collective defense and security, ensuring it can autonomously address threats,” he said. “There is a growing realization that defending all European borders -– land, air, and sea -– is vital to the continent’s overall security.”

Despite maintaining a lead in opinion polls, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has seen his approval ratings dip in recent weeks. He is preparing a Cabinet reshuffle in an effort to restore public confidence, as surveys indicate his government is losing support to fringe far-right parties.

A small left-wing party, Course for Freedom, boycotted Thursday’s swearing-in ceremony in protest of the government’s handling of the rail disaster.