West cries foul over Belarus election as Lukashenko eyes seventh term

26/1/2025 17:21

Belarusians voted on Sunday in an election that was set to hand another five years in power to President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia's Vladimir Putin.



Russia's war in Ukraine has bound the two leaders together more tightly than ever, with Lukashenko offering his country as a launchpad for Putin's 2022 invasion and agreeing the following year to let Moscow place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.



It has left the 70-year-old Lukashenko - already shunned and sanctioned by the West before the war started - even more isolated than before.



The United States and the European Union both said in the run-up to Sunday's vote that it could not be free and fair because independent media are banned in Belarus and all leading opposition figures have been jailed or forced to flee abroad.



"This is a blatant affront to democracy," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas posted on social media, describing the vote as a sham. Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said Lukashenko was engineering his re-election as part of a "ritual for dictators".