The leaders of Russia and China extended their congratulations to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko for securing a seventh term in office, with Vladimir Putin of Russia asserting that the election demonstrated Lukashenko’s “undoubted” support from the populace.
According to official results, the 70-year-old autocrat received over 86% of the votes, drawing criticism from the West after he imprisoned or exiled all significant opponents during his nearly thirty-year reign.
Since 1994, Lukashenko has emerged victorious in every presidential election, which opposition figures and human rights organizations claim are manipulated.
“Your convincing victory in the elections clearly testifies to your high political authority and the undeniable backing of the people for the state policy Belarus is pursuing,” President Putin remarked, as reported by the Kremlin.
Chinese President Xi Jinping also conveyed his congratulations to Mr. Lukashenko, as reported by Chinese state media.
In recent years, Beijing and Minsk have strengthened ties, with Belarus seeking foreign investment as it faces Western sanctions.
Exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya denounced the election as a “farce”, and the European Union characterized it as a “sham”.
Lukashenko, a steadfast ally of Putin, has undertaken a brutal crackdown on dissent following widespread protests against him in 2020.
Human rights groups report that over 1,200 political prisoners are incarcerated in the country, with approximately 300 released through pardons issued by Lukashenko before the election.
This time, the opponents chosen to run against him campaigned in favor of his policies, while he refrained from participating in debates and claimed not to be closely monitoring the campaign.
Exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya
The 2020 election in Belarus resulted in nationwide protests, with demonstrators accusing Lukashenko of electoral fraud.
In the wake of the protests, tens of thousands of Belarusians fled to neighboring countries, primarily Poland and Lithuania, amid a wave of repression from the KGB.
Lukashenko stated yesterday that his opponents are either imprisoned or living abroad by their own choice.
“Some chose prison, some exile,” he remarked.
He added: “If they are in prison, it is because they spoke out too loudly.”
During a news conference that lasted four hours and 25 minutes, he said that expressing remorse and seeking pardon were prerequisites for releasing any prisoners.
In Warsaw, home to many exiled Belarusians, opposition leader Ms. Tikhanovskaya referred to Lukashenko as a “criminal who has seized power”.
In a recent interview, Ms. Tikhanovskaya expressed her desire for dissidents to prepare for a potential chance for change in Belarus, though she acknowledged that “now is not the time”.
In a statement issued yesterday, the foreign ministers of the eight Nordic-Baltic nations – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden – commended “the tireless efforts of the Belarusian democratic forces led by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya”.
Criticism of Lukashenko is prohibited.
Ms. Tikhanovskaya’s allies remain imprisoned under harsh conditions, often incommunicado and in isolation.
Lukashenko accused imprisoned protest leader Maria Kolesnikova, who had torn up her passport during a forced deportation by the KGB in 2020, of violating prison regulations.
He revealed that he personally ordered Ms. Kolesnikova to be “shown to the people” last November, when images of her appeared publicly for the first time in over a year.
Concerns about the well-being of Ms. Kolesnikova, who has been hospitalized while incarcerated, have escalated in recent months; however, Lukashenko asserted, “she is fine”.
Alexander Lukashenko casting his vote in the presidential election
Most citizens of the landlocked nation have only faint memories of life prior to Lukashenko’s rule, as he was 39 when he won the first national election following Belarus’s independence from the Soviet Union.
The United Nations estimates that around 300,000 Belarusians have left the country since 2020, out of a total population of nine million.
These individuals will be unable to cast votes, as Belarus has eliminated voting from abroad.
Leading up to the election, the Lukashenko administration pardoned about 200 political prisoners.
However, former detainees reported that those released were closely monitored by security services and unable to lead normal lives.
Often referred to as “Europe’s last dictator” – a title he embraces – Lukashenko’s Belarus retains much of the Soviet Union’s legacy and infrastructure.
If he completes his term, which would conclude in 2030, he will have held power for 36 years.
