Belarusites vote for country president, Lukashenko towards 7th term

Lukashenko himself seemed uninterested in the process.

“I am not following the election campaign,” he said earlier this week at a state car production plant. I don't have time. ”

The 70-year-old Lukashenko, often called Europe's last dictator, has ruled Belarus with an iron hand since 1994.

Many of his political opponents have either been imprisoned or have fled abroad.

There's a desperate mood in Belarus. Most people who once protested actively and expressed their political views are now afraid,” said Darja Rudkova, a Belarusian living in exile.

In the last election in 2020, Lukashenko was declared the winner by 80% of the vote. That prompted charges of voter fraud, months of protests and a severe blow that led to 65,000 arrests.

Opposition figures were imprisoned or forced to flee

This time around, the country's seven million registered voters can choose among the five candidates, only one of whom is considered critical of Lucasenko's rule and Belarus's close ties with Russia.

Independent candidate Anna Kanapatskaya said: “Belarus and Belarus deserve to live in a free, independent, democratic country. Have a future where human rights are respected. ”

I don't fight police officers because it's a crime. But that doesn't mean I support the policies of the country's current leadership. ”

Even though Lucasenkos' current mandate is the sixth he doesn't expire until summer, he chose to take elections from August to January, which is very cold in Belarus.

According to political analyst Belarus Valery Karbalevich, this is an estimated attempt to prevent demonstrators from getting out on the streets to protest election results.

There will be no mass protests in frozen January,” he said.

Sting of Discidence

Lukashenko is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and is based on subsidies and political support from Moscow to maintain his control over power in Belarus.

While shopping with the Kremlin over the years for more subsidies, Lukashenko repeatedly tried to calm the West by facilitating the depression in his country. But this tactic ended after it started a violent crackdown on disagreement after the 2020 elections.

Tens of thousands of Belarusers were arrested and thousands were beaten by police forces in a sweeping blow from the state. In parallel, hundreds of independent media and NGOs were shut down and declared illegal.

In response, the West sanctioned Belarus. Such sanctions on the country have intensified after Russia was found to be using its neighbour to bypass the European sanctions imposed on Moscow due to Ukraine's full-scale invasion of 2022.

As it stands, 287 individuals including Lukashenko himself in Belarus have been sanctioned by the EU, as well as 39 entities.

The European Commission described the elections as “a total fraud”

“There are no choices when you already know who will win,” said Commission spokeswoman for foreign affairs, Anita Hyper.

“The EU is continuing to support the Belarusian people. We are also continuing to pressure the regime,” she said.

The commission said last month it was providing 30m euros to support civil society in Belarus, after already providing 140m euros since 2020.

As for what remains of the opposition, human rights activists say the country is holding about 1,300 political prisoners behind bars. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, founder of the country's highest rights group, Viasna, is among them.

Under a brutal campaign against all disagreement, authorities have created a overwhelming climate of fear, silent everything and anyone challenging the government,” said Marie Struthers, director of Amnesty International for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The Soviet - Style Strong

Belarus was part of the Soviet Union until its fall in 1991. The Slavic nation of 9 million is located between Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland with the last three that are all NATO members. During World War II, it was conquered by Nazi Germany.

Lukashenko, a former director of the state farm, was elected for the first time in 1994, facing a wave of public anger in the face of a catastrophic decline in living standards after free market reforms. He promised to fight corruption.

An open fan of the Soviet Union, Lucasanko's government oversees Soviet-style controls over the economy and decontains actively the use of Belarusian language in favour of Russian. The leader also urged the country to abandon its red and white national flag in favour of a similar one used as a Soviet republic.

Belarus's highest security agency promotes fears, preserving its name of the Soviet KGB era. It is also the only country in Europe that respects the death penalty, with executions committed by a gun shot on the back of the head.

And in February 2022, Lukashenko allowed Russia to use Belarus territory to invade Ukraine, later agreeing to host some of Russia's nuclear tactical weapons. /euronews