UPDATE - Greece elects its first woman president

UPDATES WITH GREEK PRESIDENT'S REMARKS

By Magda Panoutsopoulou

ATHENS (AA) - The Greek parliament on Wednesday elected the country's first female president.

Katerina Sakellaropoulou won the support of 261 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament. 33 MPs voted present while there were also six absentees.

The former judge was backed by ruling New Democracy party, leftist party Syriza and the center-left Movement for Change alliance. She will serve for five years starting on March 13, replacing current President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, when his term comes to an end.

After Parliament President Kostas Tasoulas officially visited her at the Council of State to formally announce the voting results, Sakellaropoulou said: “I reassure the MPs that I have a clear conscious of the obligation I have to fulfill.

“Our country is a modern state governed by the rule of law and a factor of stability, growth and culture. An essential prerequisite for it to continue to be such is to ensure its territorial integrity and its sovereign rights," she added.

Sakellaropoulou was born in Thessaloniki and served as president of the Association of the Council of State Judges in 1993-1995 and in 2000-2001, secretary general in 1985-1986 and vice president in 2006-2008.

She also served as a member of the Central Legislative Bill Drafting Commission in 1993-1995.

Sakellaropoulou was the president of the Disciplinary Board of Foreign Ministry in 2013-2015. Since March 2015, she has been the president of the Hellenic Society of Environmental Law, a scientific association.