Lukashenko's seventh term unrecognized by West amid protests
State-run Belarusian media, citing exit poll results, reported that Alexander Lukashenko won 87.6% of the votes in Sunday's presidential elections in Belarus. However, the Belarusian opposition and the West do not recognise Sunday's elections as democratic.
According to information provided by regime media, the other official candidates received between 1% and 3% of the votes. Additionally, 5.1% of voters voted against all candidates, as shown by the exit poll results. Sunday was the main day of voting organised by the regime. Lukashenko, who has been in power for 31 years, secured his seventh term. Polling stations closed at 8:00 PM (7:00 PM Greenwich Mean Time).
The opposition calls this election a "non-election" because there are no real opponents or opportunities for a democratic process. Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya declared that neither Belarusians nor the international community recognised the results of Sunday's "elections." In a resolution, the European Parliament called for the EU and member states to continue not recognising Lukashenko as president following the "elections," which it deemed "fictitious."
The previous elections in 2020, despite eliminating the leading contenders from the opposition through arrests and staged criminal cases—Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Viktar Babaryka (currently serving sentences)—became an occasion for massive protests against Lukashenko.
At that time, the Belarusian leader—according to experts—underestimated the scale of social discontent and allowed Tsikhanouskaya to participate in the elections. Propaganda labelled her a "housewife" and a "cutlet fairy," attempting to ridicule her in the eyes of voters. Despite this, according to the opposition and independent calculations (accurate results were never disclosed), Tsikhanouskaya won the elections. After Lukashenko was declared the winner with 81%, Belarusians took to the streets en masse.
The brutal suppression of protests and violent waves of political repression, unprecedented even for Belarus, led to the destruction or emigration of political opposition, media, organisations, and social activists, and thousands were imprisoned. Five years later, as reported by human rights defenders, the repression continues unabated, with 1,256 people currently incarcerated "for politics" (though this is not a complete count).
After the 2020 campaign and brutal repressions, Western countries decided not to recognise the officially announced election results. Since then, Lukashenko has not been recognised as the legitimate head of state. The West maintains contacts with the Belarusian opposition in exile, but its real influence and impact on the situation in Belarus are minimal.
