Lukashenko wins seventh term as Belarus president. Brussels calls it “a blatant affront to democracy”

Brussels – The time for “‘Europe’s last dictator’ is not over: Alexandr Lukashenko overwhelmingly won, with 86.8 percent of the vote, the elections in Belarus, securing his seventh presidential term. European capitals, led by High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, dismissed the election as a “farce.” “The elections are a blatant affront to democracy. Lukashenko has no legitimacy,” Kallas and EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said in a statement.

According to Minsk Election Commission data, voter turnout was 85.7 percent. None of the other four candidates were from the opposition: Oleg Gaidukevich (Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus), Alexander Khizhnyak (Republican Party of Labor and Justice), and Sergei Syrankov (Communist Party of Belarus) openly support the regime. Even businesswoman Hanna Kanapackaja, though an independent candidate, sided with Lukashenko several times in recent years and is considered by the opposition in the same way as the others, a front candidate.

The opposition leader in exile, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, met with EU diplomacy chief Kallas last night. Brussels will continue to “support and fund civil society, Belarusian democratic forces in exile, and Belarusian culture,” the EU leader said. “The sham elections in Belarus were neither free nor fair. The people of Belarus deserve a real say in who governs their country,” Kallas attacked in the statement released on the sidelines of the dinner with Tsikhanouskaya, emphasizing the “relentless and unprecedented repression of human rights, restrictions to political participation and access to independent media in Belarus, have deprived the electoral process of any legitimacy.” The European Parliament, by a vast majority, approved a resolution last week urging the international community to “not recognize the outcome of the elections.”

According to the Minsk-based human rights center Viasna, there are currently over 1,200 political prisoners in Belarus. In 2024, in the run-up to the elections, Lukashenko further tightened the grip of repression: the number of political trials increased by 50 percent, with at least 5,890 cases, and there allegedly currently are 45 journalists in prison. “We urge the regime to immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners,” the note from Kallas and Kos continued. “For these reasons, as well as the involvement of the Belarusian regime in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its hybrid attacks against its neighbors, the EU will continue imposing restrictive and targeted measures against the regime,” the statement said.

European sanctions, progressively adopted starting from 2021, have been extended until February 28, 2025. They target 287 individuals and 37 entities responsible for repression and intimidation against peaceful protesters, opposition members, and journalists, as well as irregularities committed in the election process, torture of detainees, and other human rights violations. On the list are Lukashenko himself, his son Viktor, the national security adviser, senior Interior Ministry officials, the prosecutor general and other members of the judiciary, and several prominent businessmen and businesses that support the regime.

 Speaking to the international media after confirming his victory, Lukashenko said he had “no regrets” for allowing “big brother” Putin to use Belarusian territory to invade Ukraine. In power since 1994, Lukashenko declined to predict his future reappointment, adding that he is “not going to die” and has no specific successor in mind. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said: “President Putin congratulated Aleksander Lukashenko on his convincing election victory.” For Moscow, these were “Absolutely legitimate, well-organized, and transparent elections.”