Unrivaled victory

87.6 percent for Lukashenko in Belarus election

Alexander Lukashenko at the election

(Bild: APA/AFP)

The autocrat Alexander Lukashenko has been re-elected for a seventh term in office in what has been criticized as a farcical, neither free nor fair presidential election in Belarus, according to an official post-election poll. 

According to the results, Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, received 87.6 percent of the vote on Sunday. As he suppresses the opposition, the 70-year-old's victory was a foregone conclusion. This time, no serious opponent stood against him.

These were Lukashenko's opponents - all of whom are considered supporters of the autocrat.

(Bild: AFP or licensors)

There were no results at first. The votes are still being counted. However, the forecast in the country often criticized as Europe's last dictatorship is likely to be almost identical to the results later announced by the election administration. The polling stations in the ex-Soviet republic closed at 20:00 local time (18:00 CET). The official result was expected in the evening.

80 percent voter turnout
In 2020, Lukashenko was declared the winner with 80.1 percent of the vote. According to forecasts, he is expected to have made further significant gains on Sunday - with a voter turnout of over 80 percent.

Massive crackdown on opposition members and civil protests in 2020
Following the presidential election in August 2020, hundreds of thousands protested against political repression and electoral fraud. The security forces brutally cracked down on the opposition and detained tens of thousands. Human rights groups reported torture. At least 100,000 people fled abroad at the time. According to the human rights organization Vyazna, there are at least 1,200 political prisoners behind bars in Belarus.

Protesters marched through Warsaw on Sunday to demonstrate against Lukashenko.

(Bild: AF)

"You have to know that the figures published in Belarus have nothing in common with reality," political scientist Valery Karbalevich, who fled into exile because his life was in danger, told the German Press Agency. "The power apparatus determines the figures in advance." According to Karbalevich, Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, would have had no chance of victory in an election with alternative candidates.

Four competitors were admitted to the vote who are known to be fervent supporters of Lukashenko and are regarded as mere extras.

Moscow's vassal
Even if the election result was foreseeable, Lukashenko faces major challenges in his balancing act between East and West. As a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, he allowed him to use his country as a staging area for the invasion of Ukraine. In return, the West imposed sanctions.

If possible peace negotiations end the war in Ukraine - as announced by the new US President Donald Trump during the election campaign - experts believe that Lukashenko will try to ease relations with Europe and the USA and achieve an easing of sanctions. This would fit in with his decades-long tactic of moving closer to the West from time to time in order to prevent Belarus from becoming completely dependent on Russia and one day being integrated into its larger neighbor.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas criticized Sunday's election as a "sham" and announced that the European Union would continue to impose "restrictive and targeted measures against Lukashenko's regime".