Three days after Vice Admiral Georgios Theodoroulakis resigned his top navy job in a storm over alleged government interference in senior promotions, his successor yesterday tacitly backed the outgoing navy chief of staff.

Vice Admiral Antonios Antoniadis, 56, said yesterday Theodoroulakis was “the only officer in the supreme naval council whose opinions I totally agreed with.”

After having threatened to do so for a couple of days, Theodoroulakis resigned on Friday after the council of the armed forces chiefs of staff decided on a series of top promotions and retirements. Sources close to the outgoing chief said Defense Minister Yiannos Papantoniou had handed him a list with instructions telling Theodoroulakis which top naval officers to promote and retire.

“I regret that things turned out this way,” Antoniadis said. “At this high level, other factors come into play which may regulate our relations and our careers.”

Meanwhile, as Vice Admiral Iosif Manoussoyiannakis, a close friend of Theodoroulakis who was retired on Friday, handed over the reins as deputy navy chief of staff to his successor, his house in Vari, southern Athens, was burgled.