Zelensky congratulates Alar Karis on his election as President of Estonia, hopes for continued close cooperation between countries

KYIV. Aug 31 (Interfax-Ukraine) – President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has congratulated director of the National Museum of Estonia Alar Karis on his election as President of Estonia, and hopes for continued close cooperation between the countries.

"I sincerely congratulate Alar Karis on his election as President of Estonia based on the results of the Riigikogu deputies’ vote. I hope for the continuation of close cooperation between Ukraine and Estonia for the benefit of our two peoples," Zelensky wrote on Twitter.

As reported, the Estonian parliament, at an extraordinary session on Tuesday, by closed ballot, elected director of the National Museum of Estonia Alar Karis as the president of the republic.

Some 72 out of 101 deputies voted for his candidacy, eight ballots were empty. Eighty deputies took part in the voting.

For the first time in 30 years, the President of Estonia was elected uncontested.

Karis was born on March 26, 1958. He is a molecular geneticist and developmental biologist and former rector of the Estonian University of Life Sciences (2003-2007) and the University of Tartu (2007-2012). Since 2013, he has been working as a state controller, in 2017 he became the head of the Estonian National Museum.

His wife Sirje Karis is the director of the Tartu City Museum. They have two grown sons and an adult daughter.