Alexander Lukashenko, in power in Belarus since 1994, was “re-elected” yesterday for a seventh term with 87% of the vote. After 30 years at the helm, he continues to consolidate his authoritarian regime through the repression of the opposition.
This election is merely a facade designed to provide a veneer of legitimacy. A close ally of Vladimir Putin, whom he called a “big brother” during his re-election, Lukashenko has established himself as a dictator at the heart of Europe. In Belarus, political opposition no longer exists: opponents are imprisoned or forced into exile. Journalists, NGO members, protesters, and citizens also face arbitrary arrests and violence. The repression reached new heights following his previous “re-election” in 2020, which was marked by massive protests brutally suppressed by the regime.
His opponent in the 2020 presidential election, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, was forced to flee the country and was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison in Belarus on charges of treason and conspiracy to seize power.
Lukashenko also plays a key role in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Belarus serves as a staging ground for Russian forces, hosting military exercises, missile launchers, and allowing troop movements. It was from Belarusian territory that Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
This new term extends a dictatorial regime that crushes all opposition and cements Belarus as a key ally of Moscow in its war of aggression against Ukraine, providing its territory for Russian military operations.
Photo: Alexander Lukashenko at a polling station in Minsk – Kristina Kormilitsyna/SPU/SIPA
