Putin's ally Lukashenko wins 7th term in election that the West calls a farce!
Belarusian leader and Russian ally Alexander Lukashenko extended his 31-year rule on Monday after electoral officials declared him the winner of a presidential election that Western governments dismissed as fraudulent.
Lukashenko, who faced no serious challenge from the other four candidates on the ballot, received 86.8% of the vote, according to initial results. European politicians said the vote was neither free nor fair because independent media is banned in the former Soviet republic and all major opposition figures have either been imprisoned or forced to flee the country.
"The people of Belarus had no other choice. It is a bitter day for all those who long for freedom and democracy," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock posted on X.
Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called for expanding Western sanctions against Belarusian companies and individuals involved in suppressing Lukashenko's opponents and supplying ammunition to Russia's war effort in Ukraine.
"As long as Belarus is under the control of Lukashenko and Putin, there will be a constant threat to the peace and security of the entire region," she said.
EU Foreign Affairs Chief Kaja Kallas and Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said in a statement that the bloc would continue to impose "restrictive and targeted measures against the regime" while supporting civil society and the exiled opposition.
Asked about the imprisonment of his opponents, Lukashenko said on Sunday that they had "chosen" their own fate. He denied that his decision to release more than 250 people convicted of "extremist" activities was a message to the West to seek an easing of his isolation.
"I don't give a damn about the West," he said at a press conference that lasted more than four hours. "We have never rejected relations with the West. We have always been ready. But you don't want that. So what should we do, bow down to you or crawl on our knees?"
Throughout his career, Lukashenko has managed to become a useful ally for Russia, reaping vital benefits in the form of oil and cheap credit, while preventing his country of nine million from being swallowed up by its much larger neighbor. But the war in Ukraine has tied him closer than ever to Putin, whose invasion was launched partly from Belarusian territory. Putin has also deployed Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
Despite Lukashenko's denials, opponents and political analysts interpret his prisoner pardon as a move to begin repairing ties with the West, and his recent re-election as an attempt to restore his legitimacy and get major European countries and the US to return their ambassadors to Minsk for the first time in years.
The human rights group Viasna, which is banned as an “extremist” organization in Belarus, says there are still about 1,250 political prisoners in the country. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that Belarus had “just unilaterally released an innocent American,” whom he identified as Anastassia Nuhfer. He gave no further details about the case, which had not previously been made public.
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