In neighboring Belarus, the voting for the country's president has just concluded. Expectedly, Alexander Lukashenko—unchanged for the last three decades—has "won." After the mass protests in 2020, there are virtually no opponents left in Belarus. They are either in exile or in prison. Reports TSN. This information is also provided by Kontrakty.UA.
Western leaders deem the current electoral process illegitimate and fictitious. In contrast, Hungary has blocked a joint EU statement condemning the election.
This is discussed in a report by TSN.
The Belarusian Central Election Commission announced the results of yesterday's "vote"—the presidential elections—on Monday morning. Lukashenko is the winner. None of the so-called "competitors" even crossed the 4% mark.
Lukashenko didn't even pretend to run a campaign—he claimed he was too busy. The former collective farm manager, now 70 years old, has been in power for almost half his life—his position was only shaken by the anti-government protests of 2020, which resulted in over 10 deaths, more than a thousand injuries, tens of thousands imprisoned, and hundreds of thousands fleeing the country, including the opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, recognized in the West. Her husband ran for president and was imprisoned.
Currently, there are no politicians left in the country who could pose a real challenge to Lukashenko. Thus, under conditions of complete suppression of the opposition and freedom of speech, Lukashenko's seventh re-election raises no discussions, nor even interest among Belarusians. At least, not on camera.
The only thing that somewhat deviated from the classic script of these elections was the Belarusian leader's dog, which he brought with him to vote. The fluffy spitz named Umka decided to mark the polling station he visited with his owner.
Social media is sharing footage from the polling station featuring former political prisoner and editor of the "Nekhta" publication, Roman Protasevich. The plane carrying the opposition figure was forced to land under Lukashenko's orders a few years ago in Belarusian airspace. After his time in prison, Protasevich now supports the current regime.
A few days before these "elections," several Western countries, including Ukraine, stated that no legitimacy should be expected from this voting. After the "vote," there were attempts to condemn it at the EU level. However, Hungary blocked a joint statement at the last minute, as reported by "Radio Liberty." Instead, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, and Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, made a joint statement, indicating that they see no reason to lift sanctions against Lukashenko's regime due to political repression and assistance to Russia in the war.
Lukashenko has already rushed to declare that he is "indifferent to Western recognition." At a press conference following the elections, the dictator seized the opportunity to rattle his weapons. He mentioned that a missile system called "Oreshnik" is about to arrive, and if Poland intends to seize western Ukraine, it should be prepared for a response from Belarus. He also expressed a desire to participate in peace negotiations.
"We are advocates for peace in Ukraine. We must consider everything now, including Russia's position; we cannot avoid this. We have our interests, and Russia has its own," stated Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko.